Heartbroken
by SakuraPetal91
Summary: After Gray and Lucy started getting closer to each other, their guildmates cheered for them. But they didn't notice two heartbroken mages in opposite corners of the guild... /NaVia. [ADOPTED BY: Dark Gothic Lolita]
1. Loneliness

_**I fell in love with this crack pairing, NaVia, that is TOO underrated. I mean, come on, these two fellas look awesome together!**_

_**This is a NaVia two-shot, 'Heartbroken'**__**, or, in other words, what would probably happen if GrayLu was cannon.**_

* * *

"Yo Luce, wanna go on a job with me?"

"Sorry Natsu, I'm really busy. I have to meet someone tonight. I can't go on a job today..."

This is how it has been going on between Natsu and Lucy lately. Natsu would ask her if she would go on a job. She would find excuses to not go. He was rejected.

"Oh, okay... Talk to ya' later then!", Natsu replied, putting on his biggest grin. Lucy sighed in relief as soon as he walked to a lonely table in the guild.

_'Yeah, sure you're busy... Busy with icicle over there...'_

Happy wasn't there to comfort him, and Natsu knew he won't be. The blue Exceed recently moved with Lucy and got closer to Carla, and the dragon slayer knew he couldn't take away the chance of Happy's life.

Natsu watched pained as Gray joined Lucy. She would occasionally giggle or laugh, or smile lovingly. Natsu tried to keep his mind off them while staring at the walls or at the floor like if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

His fire wasn't burning as hot as usual, and it was actually colder because of it in the guild.

But nobody, absolutely **nobody** noticed.

* * *

"Gray-sama, would you-"

"No."

"B-But, Juvia hadn't even finished-"

"Don't need to. You were going to ask me out. The answer is 'no'. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, never. I'm not going out with you."

This is how it has been like between Juvia and Gray lately. Juvia would try to speak to Gray. He won't even let her finish and say 'no'. She was rejected.

"O-Oh... O-Okay... Then Juvia will go...", said Juvia sadly, walking back to her table.

She watched from afar as Lucy, Gray and Erza were talking. Juvia noticed how Gray looks at Lucy, and how Lucy looks at Gray. She frowned, the sky getting grey.

_'There they are... Laughing, joking, smiling... What's Lucy-san that Juvia isn't?'_

Juvia got tired of always calling Lucy 'Love Rival'. She knew she would never win Gray from the blonde. In Juvia's mind, Lucy was just too skilled for her. Juvia was wearing lots of clothes that covered her, while Lucy was only wearing mini skirts and revealing T-shirts. What could Juvia do to win against the blonde?

She frowned again, sighing sadly.

And nobody, **nobody** heard her sighs.

* * *

_**\- later -**_

"Urgh! Juvia hasn't got **anyone** to help her out on a mission!", Juvia groaned out loud.

Gajeel was on a separate job with Levy, and nobody else wanted to go on a job with her. Juvia let her head fall on the table with a loud thump.

_'What can Juvia do? Lucy-san is winning Gray-sama's heart, Gajeel-kun is too busy to help me out, and no one else wants to help Juvia out...'_, she thought sadly, the sky covering with dark clouds.

Juvia was snapped out of her thoughts when someone shook her. She raised her head, eyes glimmering with hope that it would be her beloved Gray-sama.

But it wasn't. It was who she least expected.

"Hey, Juvia, would you go on a job with me?"

Natsu was standing in front of her, holding a request in his hand.

"Why would Natsu-san want to go on a job with Juvia?", she asked, confused. "Doesn't Natsu-san always go with Lucy-san on jobs?"

At the mention of Lucy's name, Natsu looked down, his bangs falling in his eyes.

"Lucy's... **busy** with that ice prick... ", the dragon slayer sighed. "A-And I heard you don't have a partner either..."

Juvia's eyes widened. _'Does Natsu-san have feelings for Lucy-san?'_ Her shocked expression turned into a soft smile. _'It all makes sense to Juvia now... Natsu-san feels sad because Lucy-san is hanging out with someone else...'_

"Of course Juvia will go with Natsu-san!", she smiled. "When do we leave?"

Natsu's frown turned into his well-known toothy grin.

"Okay! We're leaving now!", Natsu cheered and took her by the wrist outside.

"W-Wait! Isn't Happy-chan coming too?"

"No, Happy kinda ditched me for Lucy... He said she has more fish than me, and her house isn't as messy as mine", Natsu replied, trying to keep his cheerful face.

Juvia frowned. How could his cat - his **foster son**, leave him with such an excuse? Don't they know how** heartbroken** he must be? Both his love interest **and** closest companion just **ditched** him, and they don't even **speak** to him? How could they be **so insensitive** to his pain? Why can't nobody see how **hard** he's trying to hide his suffering from her?

"Juvia? We're at the train station", Natsu said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"R-Right!", Juvia replied a little too quickly.

Their ride with the train was mostly silent. Juvia watched as Natsu groaned, weakened by his motion sickness. Once they arrived in the city where the client was supposed to live, Natsu returned full-force.

"Yeah! The train stopped moving!", he cheered, jumping up and down.

Juvia giggled at his silliness, thinking about how different he is apart from all the people she went on jobs with. She was actually having a little fun with Natsu.

Also, this way Juvia could keep her mind off Gray for a while, because whenever she thought of him, her heart ached.

* * *

The job was rather easy. Catch some bandits. The hard part was finding their hide-out, hidden in a big forest, and also be careful to not kill them. So, they finally finished the job at sunset.

"So Juvia, what do you want us to do? Camp in the forest, or stay in a hotel?", Natsu asked the water mage after receiving their reward.

"Umm... Juvia would prefer a hotel, if that's fine with Natsu-san. Who knows what might attack us in that forest?", Juvia said, shivering at the thought of what dangers might hide there.

"Okay then, a hotel it is. Let's go!", Natsu smiled, and grabbed her by the wrist again, running to a hotel nearby.

_'But I could've been able of protecting Juvia, even if she would've been right about creepy things in the forest...'_, Natsu internally mumbled.

* * *

"I am sorry, but we only have one room left with a two-person bed."

Natsu and Juvia stared at the receptionist with their jaws dropping on the floor. Natsu coughed awkwardly, not daring to look at Juvia.

"Does that room have a couch, at least?", he asked.

The receptionist shook her head, and Natsu growled to himself. He then turned to Juvia, who flinched at his sudden scary face.

"I'll sleep on the floor, Juvia. Is that okay with you?", he said, his expression softening.

"W-We'll see in the room, N-Natsu-san..."

They both took the key to their room, and rushed upstairs to check it out.

* * *

"Wow, well this looks awesome."

Natsu entered the room first, and now he was checking out the bed. It had clean, white covers and was placed in the middle of the room. The room itself was big and clean. Natsu jumped on the bed.

"I love this beeed!", he grinned, putting his arms under his head.

Juvia giggled. "Well, Natsu-san looks like he's enjoying it."

Natsu turned to her and grinned. "Wanna try for yourself?"

Juvia nodded and set herself on her bed. Smiling, she then let herself fall on the bed, next to Natsu.

"Juvia thinks this bed is awesomee~!", she sang.

Natsu chuckled. The Juvia he knew before wasn't like this. She was always stalking Gray and threatening any possible love rivals. But this Juvia was different. She didn't mention Gray not even once during their job, she laughed with him, and had fun, something he rarely saw the other Juvia do. And that was cute. In other words, he liked this Juvia. She wasn't always kicking and punching him whenever he did something wrong, like Lucy, she wasn't always sneering at him and calling him an idiot, like Lucy did... And he liked this better. But he still missed Lucy, and all her flaws, and the fact that she was now with Gray was hurting him...

"Is Natsu-san alright?", Juvia said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Natsu blinked a few times before putting his best grin.

"Sure I am! Why would ya' ask that?"

"Because Juvia knows this smile is fake", was the water mage's simple reply. "Tell Juvia what's wrong."

Natsu smiled a sadder smile. "So, you're different, aren't you? Nobody has been able to notice my smiles were fake before..."

"Juvia understands. Juvia knows how it is to fake a smile, and nobody noticed. Now tell Juvia what's wrong!", she demanded.

"Well... I guess I have the same issue as you", he sighed.

Juvia raised an eyebrow, confused. "What does Natsu-san mean?"

"I love Lucy, you love Gray, Lucy and Gray love each other. The result is, me and you are left behind to sulk alone", was Natsu's explanation.

Juvia lowered her eyes for a moment. "So Natsu-san is heartbroken too?", she asked with a sad smile.

The dragon slayer only nodded in agreement.

"I put my fake smiles on and nobody notices I'm sad. That's how I'm coping with it", he sighed. "What about you, Juvia?"

Juvia frowned. "Juvia knew for a long time that Gray might not love her back, but she wanted to find a way to deny it. When Juvia finally saw that Gray doesn't love her back, she decided to drop the '-sama' at the end of his name. But Juvia knows it isn't that simple... Juvia's heart still hurts and Juvia... J-Juvia wants... She just wants someone to love her!", she said, tears forming in her eyes.

Natsu enveloped her in a hug, stroking her blue hair and hushing her. He had a pained expression on his face, too.

"Shh, Juvia, it's okay... I'm here, aren't I?"

Juvia smiled sad in his shoulder, letting tears roll on her cheeks.

"D-Did Natsu-san love L-Lucy-san?"

"...More than I ever thought I would...", he said, letting a tear slip down. "But Lucy started insulting me just as much as that popsicle, so I'm trying t-to forget her..."

They stood like that for a few minutes, crying their hearts out.

They were ignored, they were insulted by the people they loved. They had no shoulder to lean on when they were sad and pained. But now they at least had each other...

When Natsu finally released her from the hug, she already fell asleep. He smiled softly, setting her on the bed and covering her with the soft blankets before doing the same for himself. Juvia subconsciously moved closer to Natsu, hugging him. He decided to let it go, and stroke her hair gently.

"Goodnight, Juvia...", he whispered.

_'Sweet dreams...'_, he wanted to say, but fell asleep.

* * *

_**So, as I said in the beginning, this is a two-shot. Expect a second chapter, 'cause this is not the end!**_

_**I hope you liked it. Spread the NaVia!**_


	2. Friends

**Hello everybody! Sakura here.**

**Guess what?**

**I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS A FULL STORY! *ducks from the chair thrown by the audience***

**I know I have too many stories that I need to update... I'm really sorry. I'm trying to update each and every story as quickly as I can. But free time is hard to obtain!**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS! YOU ARE ALL SO ETERNALLY KIND!**

**So, yeah, here's the second chapter, I hope you like it!**

* * *

_Juvia was in the guild hall, sitting in a quiet corner and watching Gray from afar as usual. He seems to approach her with an unusual smile on his face... Is he happy to see her? Juvia shrugs the idea off, never thinking it would ever happen._

_And yet, here he was, already in front of her, with a soft smile on his face._

_"Oi, Juvia", he says nonchalantly._

_"H-Hello, G-Gray-sama__!__", Juvia squeaks, not knowing what to do and definitely not wanting to look awkward in front of her precious._

_He seemed to hesitate a little, looking around at the walls before sighing and looking straight into her eyes. "Say, Juvia, would you like to accompany me, Lucy, Erza and Natsu on a job?", Gray said, smiling._

_Juvia couldn't help the blush that formed on her cheeks as happy daydreams formed in front of her eyes. It was the happiest day of her life__! She had dreamed of this, but never thought it will actually happen due to Gray's cold personality. The world just got brighter, the stinky smells roaming in the guild hall transformed into parfum, and the annoyed shouts and swears echoing in the guild turned into love messages. Gray was right there, right there in front of her, and there was no stopping her now! She nodded furiously, to make sure he understands she agreed on joining him on a job. This was the best day ever!_

_Suddenly, her daydreams stopped when Gray put on an all-too-familiar toothy grin that was so uncommon for him. Juvia quirked an eyebrow in confusion._

_"Why is Gray-sama mimicking Natsu-san?"_

_Gray's smile fell as soon as she asked the question, startling Juvia. He sighed and faded, turning into Natsu._

_"You recognized me, eh?", he spoke with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I was just trying to cheer you up a lil' bit, you always look so sad..."_

_Juvia looked at him in confusion. 'Why would Natsu-san want to cheer Juvia up? Does he... lllike Juvia?'_

_Her thinking was interrupted when she heard Natsu's voice. "Oi, Juvia. Wake up."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Waaake uuuup!", Natsu spoke in a sing-along voice, gently shaking her._

* * *

"Juviaaa, wake uuup!"

Juvia jolted awake, accidentally hitting Natsu's cheek with her elbow. Natsu put a hand on his hurt cheek, wincing.

"Juuuviaaa!", he whined, wiping a few fake tears away. "Why did you hit meee?"

Juvia jerked her head to him, only then realizing where she was.

She was in a hotel room.

Sleeping in the same bed with Natsu.

With _Natsu_.

Juvia flushed and let herself collapse on the bed again, hiding her face in a pillow, squealing in embarrassment. Why in the _world_ was she in the same bed with _Natsu_ of all people?! She couldn't remember!

"Juvia? Why are you squealing? Come on, we don't want to lose the... train...", Natsu said as he momentarily turned green, but quickly recovered. "We already finished the job, so let's get ready!", he finished, returning to his cheerful self as he got out of bed and started to dress up (he was kinda shirtless right now, God knows how...).

Finally, Juvia remembered why she was in a hotel room with Natsu. They simply went on a job, they didn't do anything else (Juvia read too many smut-fics from Levy).

Sadness took over Juvia as she remembered why she went on a job with Natsu... Gray was not hers, it was Lucy's, and she could never have him now...

Natsu sniffed the air and caught the salty scent of the tears in Juvia's eyes. He turned his head quickly, eyes flashing with worry, but quickly softened as he saw the blue-haired water mage now sitting on the edge of the bed staring sadly at the floor, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of her Gray-sama. Natsu -now fully dressed-, walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder, smiling softly.

"Hey, ya' thinkin' about that stripper?"

Juvia nodded, ignoring the nickname he gave Gray. Usually, she would snap annoyed by Natsu's habit of giving her Gray-sama nicknames, but now that he wasn't hers anymore, she couldn't care less.

Natsu ruffled her hair, chuckling lightly. "Forget 'bout that idiot. You deserve more than that, and you know it", he smiled and walked away from her quickly.

Juvia looked in his eyes, amazed at how fine he was after losing Lucy, but quickly noticed the pain hidden behind his smile and the dullness of his eyes that lost their shine since Lucy forgot about him. Juvia smiled softly and started getting ready herself.

* * *

After a quiet train ride, Natsu and Juvia headed to the guild, hoping for the best.

"Oi, Juvia!", Natsu called for her, cheerful.

"Yes, Natsu-san?", Juvia sighed. His happiness was sometimes tiring. How could he smile so brightly after seeing the one he loved spend time with someone else?

His toothy grin quickly turned into a soft, sad smile. "Try to keep your smile intact, okay?", he spoke in such a soft and warm voice, that Juvia flinched. "I... really want everything to stay as it is... I want everyone to treat us the same, because, if they find out about our true feelings, they will either pity us, or force their smiles just to make us happy... And I... don't want that. I want to be treated like everyone else... And I want the same for you. So please, keep smiling", he finished with a smile directed to her.

Juvia's eyes flickered in sadness as she looked down with a sigh. "J-Juvia is so... confused...", she mumbled.

"And why's that?"

"W-We used to barely glance at each other... We didn't interact at all... Juvia was even your enemy before... And yet, Natsu-san is trying to make Juvia smile... Juvia wants to know why are you doing all this..."

Natsu looked down for a moment, before letting a genuine smile stretch on his face. "I don't really know why... I just have this feeling that I need to make you happy, like I have this responsibility. Also, we're friends, aren't we?"

Juvia looked at him and let a smile form on her face. "Yes! Juvia and Natsu-san are friends!"

"That's the spirit! Now let's get in that guild hall and give them the best smiles we got!", Natsu cheered childishly, throwing his arms in the air, making Juvia giggled.

_'Juvia will be fine'_, she thought. _'Gray-sama might not be hers anymore, but Juvia's got a good friend right beside her!'_

* * *

Natsu almost smashed the doors open, a big smile on his face and Juvia beside him. Nobody flinched. The guild members turned their heads questioningly, already knowing who it was, then most of them shrugged and returned to their business.

"You dragged Juvia into your stupid jobs, Natsu?", Wakaba said with a smirk.

"Let's hope your idiocy isn't contagious!", Macao laughed.

The older men continued their ranter about Natsu's idiocy, laughing. Juvia glared daggers at them, then glanced at Natsu and flinched.

Natsu seemed very affected by their words. He was looking down, his eyebrows furrowed, slightly shaking. She thought for a single moment that he will snap.

But right then, as if nothing happened, Natsu turned his head to her with a big grin on his face. She could tell it was fake, and he was still shaking. She didn't realize she was staring at him all this time until Natsu quirked an eyebrow.

"Juvia? You okay there?", he asked, making her snap out of her thoughts.

"Y-Yes, Juvia is okay!", she said a bit too quickly.

Natsu flashed a toothy grin to her, but Juvia didn't notice the light blush dusting his cheeks. "Say, ya' wanna go on another job sometimes?"

Juvia blinked before letting a big smile stretch on her face as she nodded. "Sure, Juvia would love to accompany Natsu-san on another job! Does Natsu-san want to go on a job right now?"

Natsu looked at her, his eyes sparkling with the most joy she ever saw. Suddenly, he brought her into a tight hug, shedding anime tears.

"THANK YOU JUVIAA! YOU'RE THE **BEST**!"

Juvia blushed at this. It was the first time a guy hugged her. Normally she would've wished it was Gray-sama in his place, but now she felt good nonetheless. She would've wished Gray would've said she's the best, but right now she wouldn't have it any other way.

Nobody noticed this in the guild. With a few exceptions, of course. Gajeel smiled softly at Juvia from his dark corner, smile that was unusual for him, and smile that went unnoticed by everyone.

"Yosh! Let's see the request board!", Natsu cheered and dragged Juvia to the request board.

It was the first time a girl didn't punch him or beat him or kick him for his childish acts. She was different than Erza and Lucy. And he liked her.

* * *

Natsu teared a request from the board and showed it to Juvia.

"Is this good, Juvia?", he asked her.

Juvia hummed, narrowing her eyes at the piece of paper. She then shook her head in disagreement.

"Sorry Natsu-san, but in my opinion, this job is too easy and we are not that weak. Maybe you could choose another job", she said and Natsu nodded.

But before he could look for another request, he felt a hand sneak on his shoulder. He flinches and quickly spun around, his eyes meeting two chocolate-brown orbs that he didn't want to see so soon.

"Hey Natsu!", Lucy spoke sweetly, as she usually did.

"H-H-Hey L-Lucy...", Natsu muttered, avoiding eye contact.

She looked at him, then at the request in his hand. "Are you going on a job alone?"

"N-No, I'm going with Juvi-"

"Can I go with you?", she asked again with a wide, beautiful smile.

"No, I'm already going with-", Natsu tried to deny but was interrupted by a certain red-head.

"You are going on a job, Natsu? Let us join you. I will take lead", Erza said, followed by Happy.

"No, I'm going-"

"Oi, flame brain! Ya' goin' on a job with Erza and Lucy? Count me in!", Gray said, his shirt ditched somewhere in the guild.

The three mages started planning the job, definitely excluding Natsu, the one who chose the job and gave them the idea. He really didn't want to go with the others and leave Juvia alone, he didn't want her to be...

...Sad...

Juvia was already walking away, gloomy, saddened by the fact that she was forgotten. Storm clouds started forming on the sky outside.

And something in Natsu snapped when he saw her walk away from him.

"Come on Natsu, let's go on that job!", Lucy smiled and grabbed his arm.

"Let's go Natsuuuu!", Happy said behind them.

"Let's go already flame brain!"

"Do you want to be punished, Natsu?!"

"**ENOUGH!**", Natsu boomed.

.

.

.

The whole guild went silent and they all turned to Natsu. He looked around and sighed.

"Lucy, Erza, Gray and Happy, before you all go on that job, I have a few things to tell you", he began, and they all stared at him confused. "First, I most certainly **DO NOT** remember inviting any of you to join me on a job. Lucy only **asked**, but that's it. Second, I am already going with **someone else** on a job. And third, who the heck are **you** to barge in and claim the job I didn't even **find** yet as yours? Am I invisible or somethin'?"

"With that girly pink hair of yours? Definitely not invisible", Gray snickered and Lucy and Happy giggled with him. They all waited for Natsu to give them a snarky retort and start fighting Gray, as usual. But instead, the fire dragon slayer just sighed.

"I'm sorry for my hair color then, ice princess", Natsu spoke, shocking everyone with his calm speaking.

After a pregnant pause, Natsu turned back to the request board. Juvia looked over at their guild mates' shocked faces and put a hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"N-Natsu-san, it really wasn't necessary... I can handle l-loneliness just fine...", she told him with a reassuring smile.

"That's bad. Nobody should be alone", Natsu replied softly. "And I'm not going to leave you all on your own. My team mates can handle a simple job, they don't need me anyways, as they said it themselves when they thought I wasn't **hearing**...", he mumbled the last part, but his friends caught it anyways and lowered their heads in guilt, especially Erza.

"We apologize, Natsu", the red-haired mage said. "You may hit me if you want."

Natsu looked at her with an unusual serious face. "You expect me to hit you? Even after what you said, you're still **my friend**, you know", he said before tearing a job off the request board and showing it to Juvia.

Juvia nodded in agreement and they announced Mirajane about the job. Then, they left in silence, gently closing the door.

The others stared behind the two mages, shocked and some of them hurt. It was so silent you could hear a fly.

"...What just happened?"

Only a certain iron eater sat in his quiet corner, munching on a screw, and sighed. _'I knew this will happen... It's their fault for thinking he's that stupid and for underestimating Salamander's dragon senses. Talking crap behind his back, literally, wasn't a great move...'_, he thought, glancing at the door once again.

_'Take care of her, Salamander... I know you will...'_


	3. Sadness And Betrayal

**Oh. My. God!**

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing! You sure like this fanfic, don't ya'?**

**Heartbroken is now officially my top priority when it comes to writing, all thanks to your voting! Geez, it's like you read my mind, seriously! I really wanted to have time for this story, but I also had to focus on the other stories****! Thanks!**

**I'm sorry if the characters appeared OOC in the previous chapter... That was simply how I pictured their reactions on everything that happened. Also, I think you all know Natsu won't let anyone be left behind.**

**About Team Natsu... Well, I thought they would sometimes get so angry at Natsu for destroying things and thus losing some of the reward money, that they would complain to each other and just throw insults here and there when Natsu isn't there. It just happened that, in the previous chapter, Natsu heard them and felt betrayed by them...**

**Now, back to the actual chapter. I want you to know that there is only one reason I update soooo slow...**

**I want the chapters to be at least 2,000 words or more long, and pretty detailed, so you'll be able to easily picture what is happening in the story. And that takes most of the time. But at least I'm doing it for your sake, don't I?**

**Enjoy this chapter, dear bros!**

* * *

Natsu and Juvia left the guild hall to go on a job after he had an argue with his team. Even though he left calmly, without destroying anything or punching anyone, something that surprised everyone, especially since he didn't hit Gray for insulting his hair color as usual, they could all tell he didn't feel as calm as he seemed.

His team, however, felt extremely guilty for their words and their acts. It was their fault Natsu wasn't on a job with them now, and they knew it too well.

"Gray... What should we do?", Lucy asked the ice mage, frowning deeply.

"Yeah... I don't think he'll forgive us that easily for what we have said... Even though we only spoke out of anger and annoyance...", Erza sighed, closing her eyes.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Aw, come **on** guys, this is Natsu we're talking about! He'll be back in no time with the same ol' grin lingering on his face!"

A smile stretched on Lucy's rosy lips. "Yeah, you're probably right! Thanks Gray!"

Happy jumped in the air, summoning his white wings and flapping them a few times. "Aye Sir! I'm gonna give Natsu a fish when he comes back to the guild, just to make sure!"

They all soon returned to their usual self, and the guild became just as lively as it usually was. Gajeel sighed from where he sat beside Levy, who recently joined his quiet corner, because it was... well, quiet. An annoyed growl escaped his lips and startled Levy, who almost let the book she was reading fall on the floor.

"G-Gajeel, are you okay?", she asked quickly.

The dragon slayer stopped growling and stared at her, before letting his head fall on the table loudly.

"How could they be so freakishly dumb?!", he growled again. "I understand they were angry at Salamander, he can be incredibly annoying sometimes, but still, to talk like that about him... And then also expect him to easily forgive you... *growl* He may be an idiot, but still! He isn't that dumb to just forgive them after all they said!"

Levy looked sad at his outburst, understanding what he meant. She wasn't too sure Natsu would be as forgiving as they thought... "G-Gajeel, I understand you... But I think Natsu would ultimately forgive them..."

"Maybe you're right, Shrimp... But still, have you seen the dullness in his eyes since Bunny Girl started spending more time with Stripper? I could sense how empty he started feeling since she started ignoring him and only talking to him whenever she needed something! It was all gathering in his chest, waiting for an opportunity to be released! It seems Rain Woman feels the same, since Stripper kinda rejected her existence...", Gajeel spoke.

Levy smiled. "Yeah, they probably complete themselves... Probably the reason they stick to each other like glue... I've never seen Natsu look so attached to anyone, not even to Lu-chan..."

"Tch. Salamander had feelings for Bunny Girl. But now, these feelings are fading..."

"He actually liked her?", Levy gasped, her eyes wide. Then she smiled softly. "No wonder he looked so broken since Lucy started taking a liking into Gray..."

"Yeah, Stripper and Bunny Girl will probably hook up. Just look at how they act around each other!", Gajeel exclaimed, throwing his arm towards the two mages, who were glancing at each other from time to time, their faces coated with a faint blush as they talked with their friends.

Levy looked at this and giggled. "Yeah, Lu-chan and Gray really seem to like each other..."

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious already. But remember, Salamander still has feelings for Bunny Girl and Rain Woman was always in love with that damn stripper. Doesn't **anyone** think about them?!"

The blue-haired script mage stopped her giggles and frowned. "Yeah... What will happen to Natsu and Juvia?"

* * *

Natsu and Juvia were on their way to their destination, a village pretty close to Magnolia, so they didn't take the train. They didn't exchange any words, only lonely glances at each other as they walked staring at the ground, thinking about random things...

Natsu was questioning himself...

Was he upset at his friends? Was he able to forgive them once more?

He felt sad... Betrayed... Alone... Just like when Igneel disappeared. He thought the dragon will never leave him alone, just as he promised many years ago. And yet, he disappeared, leaving no trace behind. Igneel broke his promise, and that made Natsu feel awful. He remembers waiting for him a long time, thinking the dragon was just busy finding food for him. He had no doubt Igneel will return... and yet, he never did. Natsu cried, screamed, wandered around all the cities and villages nearby, asking about a majestic red dragon, his father. Everyone said he was crazy, and started pointing at him...

...Then he found Makarov. The tiny old man showed him kindness in a world of cruel people, and gave him a new home, the mage guild Fairy Tail. That was where he made his first friends, learned how to read and write, supervised by Erza, and raised Happy. That was where he made his first best friend, Lisanna, who was also his first crush. He was so happy, and thought those happy moments will last forever...

But they didn't.

The second time he was hurt, was when Lisanna 'died'. She was the one he considered his best friend. She was the one he cared the most about at that time. And he felt so guilty for not being there when she disappeared... He would've just let the tears flow, cry and mourn over her death like he did when Igneel disappeared... But this time he had to make sure her siblings were okay, and comfort them. So he hid his feelings while he was at the guild. He ran in the depth of the forest that night, and cried until he couldn't anymore.

And nobody knew about that. Not even Happy, who was constantly by his side.

Then, Natsu found Lucy. He loved her so much, but was too shy to admit it to anyone. He tried to show her by barging into her room uninvited, sneaking into her bed at night, always being by her side... And yet, she didn't acknowledge him that way.

The third time he felt betrayed, was when Lucy started ignoring him for Gray. He simply hated the ice mage for stealing her from him, and wanted to tell that in his face. But soon, he realized it wasn't anybody's fault... Not Gray's, not Lucy's, not anybody's. It was simply his fault for falling in love with the blonde celestial mage so easily, without even thinking... He loved her more than a crush, and was more than hurt to know that he had no chance. But still, to not make anyone, not even Gray feel guilty for his suffering, he put on again the mask he had been wearing all the time.

The mask Juvia saw so easily through...

Natsu didn't know how, but Juvia knew whenever he was sad. She was special. Juvia was in the same boat with him when it came to love; they didn't know what to do, how to cope with being rejected... In such a short time, he felt himself get closer to the only one who could understand him.

And now, his friends crossed the line.

Natsu was used to hearing Erza, Gray and Lucy insult him after he messed up on a job. He was still hurt by their words, of course, but he tried to forget about it, repeating to himself that they were just kidding. Sometimes, the insults were just words said because of the overwhelming anger, or just playful teases, but they still stung his heart, little by little.

Today, he heard them talk about him harsher than they used to. Their words hit him hard, but he tried to ignore it once again, even though other guild members were joining in, all of them speaking about how much of an idiot he was. Natsu thought he would just pretend he didn't hear anything, just like he always did...

...But then, because of them, who butted in and invited themselves to join him (forgetting Juvia) on a job, the blue-haired water mage turned away from him, a gloomy aura surrounding her... That was when he decided he had enough, and said all the things he said, dragging Juvia once again on a job with him. And he felt bad for doing that.

Now he was unsure of himself... He didn't know what he actually felt for his friends. Did he slowly started hating them over time? No, that couldn't be. Then what was it? Was it because they hurt Juvia? He had a feeling that was it, but still wasn't sure...

He could see the village take form in front of him and stopped the track of his thoughts. He would figure that out later.

Meanwhile, Juvia was going through a similar phase...

What were her feelings for Natsu? Was she still in love with Gray? What did the pink-haired dragon slayer think about her, why was he so determined to make sure she was not alone?

She felt sad... Betrayed by her own feelings... Juvia knew it wasn't Gray's fault she fell in love with him so badly. There was no one she could blame, no one except herself.

Juvia has been heartbroken her whole life. Always rejected. Always forgotten. The rain had always been the consequence of her broken heart. The people called her rain gloomy, and then she started considering herself gloomy. Since she had no friends, she started talking to herself, the source of her bizarre speaking in third person. She doesn't remember ever seeing sunlight before meeting her beloved ice-mage...

Her heart was broken into little pieces that Gray unconsciously put together when he made the rain stop and showed her the light, and then broken again into even tinier pieces when he let go of her and started looking toward Lucy. She stood like this for several days, not speaking about it to anyone, not daring to move. She didn't want the rain to return and shadow her life once again... Instead, it was cloudy for a long time.

Then, Natsu came in, suddenly taking her on a job and slowly and clumsily fitting all the pieces together once again, doing his best to help and giving her pieces of his own broken heart, trying to mend it. It all happened just in a day, but she knew she could count on Natsu. He was a good friend, just like Gajeel. Happier than Gajeel, and showing his affection towards his loved ones more than the iron dragon slayer would ever do, but still like Gajeel.

Now she didn't know what to do, what to say. She could see the confliction in Natsu's eyes... Juvia knew he was feeling guilty for his words spoken towards his friends. She still couldn't believe that Natsu snapped like that at his buddies he knew since they were little, just to make sure _she_ wasn't left behind. And she didn't know what to make of it.

Juvia saw the village approaching and stopped thinking about it. She will resolve this later, when she will have the time...

The wind was blowing furiously, almost like it wanted to cool Natsu's internal fire. The sky was a dark grey, the clouds similar to smoke. Everything seemed sad and gloomy... just like Juvia once was...

The blue-haired girl looked at the fire mage beside her. He was staring at the sky, long lost in thought. A frown formed on her face as she looked in his eyes...

"Is Natsu-san okay?", Juvia finally asked as loud as she could, snapping Natsu out of his thoughts.

He slowly turned his head to her, no emotion reflected in his eyes, before he let a grin cover his lips, hoping he could fool her.

"What makes you think I'm not okay?", he awkwardly laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

Juvia sighed. "Juvia knows that toothy grin is fake, Natsu-san. Juvia wants to know what is bothering Natsu-san. Now", she said seriously, catching him off guard.

He let his smile drop and looked down, sighing. "You really can see through me, can't ya', Juvia?", he joked, laughing sadly. Juvia raised an eyebrow, questioningly, at which Natsu continued. "I-I really don't know if I'm okay... But I felt better, to be honest... I j-just... don't know what to do anymore...". He stopped for a moment, hesitantly, before opening his mouth again to speak. "If it wasn't y-you who asked... I would've simply said I was okay, just like usual... But you know I-I'm not..."

Juvia frowned at this. It was so unlike the dragon slayer to be so sad and... _gloomy_. So unsure of himself... And she had a feeling that it was _her fault..._ If she wasn't there, Natsu would've now been with his team, and nothing would have happened. But she _had_ to be there... She_ had_ to ruin everything...

_'Just like Gray-sama said to Juvia... Juvia is annoying...'_

"J-Juvia is sorry she r-ruined everything... I-If she wouldn't have been there, Natsu-san would've now been with his f-friends, like always... B-But Juvia had to be there...", she whispered sadly.

Natsu's head jerked to her as his ears caught her words. Why was she apologizing? She hadn't done anything wrong!

"What the **heck** are you saying, Juvia?!", he snapped, startling her. "You didn't do **anything**! It's not your fault at all! If I would've wanted to be with them, I wouldn't have said anything I did! What **idiot** made you think that you ruined anything?"

Just before Juvia could reply, he enveloped her in a warm hug. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent.

"You didn't do anything, Juvia...", he whispered soothingly to her, rubbing her back to comfort her. "The only thing you did was help me..."

Juvia smiled sadly and hugged him back. "T-Thank you, Natsu-san..."

They stood like this for a few minutes before finally pulling back and slowly began walking towards their employer, chatting about random things, a blush coating Juvia's cheeks as she spoke. Natsu smiled softly, determination flooding through his being...

_'...I will protect Juvia at any cost. I will never let that ice-prick or anyone else hurt her again like they did__!__'_


	4. Starting To Love

Natsu and Juvia finally reached their employer's house. It was quite a beauty; well, he _was_ the richest man in that village...

Natsu knocked at the door, awaiting a response. Soon, the door opened, revealing a short old man with a funny mustache, who eyed them curiously. Seeing Natsu's guild mark on his shoulder, a big goofy smile stretch on his face.

"Ah! You are Fairy Tail mages!", he chuckled. Juvia and Natsu nodded. "Very well then. Come!"

They entered the house, which left Natsu and Juvia quite speechless. They were in the living room, a huge chandelier hanging on the center of the ceiling. Then there was a long table in the middle of the room, with a plate full of cookies, probably for possible guests. Natsu stretched his hands to reach the sweets, but Juvia elbowed him, silently scolding him, to which he responded with a pout. As hard as it was to ignore the beautiful cookies that were practically screaming 'eat me', it was worth it if it was for Juvia, Natsu thought, and cracked a small smile before returning to a serious expression, so the old man will have a good first impression of them. The windows were also pretty large, with beautiful light-blue curtains. Underneath their feet was a fluffy dark red carpet.

"Sit down, please", the man smiled. Natsu pulled Juvia's chair for her, to which she blushed before muttering a silent 'thank you', before he sat himself on one of the chairs.

The man grinned knowingly at them. "I am Yato Iki, your employer", he spoke.

"Yo! I'm Natsu Dragneel", Natsu introduced with a toothy grin, shaking Yato's hand.

"I am pleased to find myself in the presence of the famous Salamander", Yato chuckled, and turned to Juvia. "And what may your name be?"

"Juvia Lockser", she coldly replied, to which Natsu frowned.

_'Geez, Juvia, try smiling a lil' bit'_, Natsu mentally scolded her. Yato, on the other hand, didn't mind it at all.

"Very well then. Natsu-san, Juvia-san, I will explain your job immediately."

* * *

"Guys! I have a great idea!", Lucy chirped to her team.

"What's up, Lucy?", Gray asked, smiling softly at her.

Lucy leaned, giggling happily. "We could surprise Natsu and Juvia by helping them finish their job as a way to apologize!"

Erza nodded happily while savouring her incredible strawberry cake. "Indeed a good idea, Lucy. We shall go once I- uhh, **we** finish eating!"

Everybody sweatdropped at Erza's antics. Soon, Team Natsu left with Wendy, since they had no idea where Natsu and Juvia were. They all shook their heads once they left...

"Maybe we should stop them...?", Mirajane asked the Master.

"Naah, let them be!", Makarov spoke, drinking. "It won't be the end of the world if Natsu will see what his team has gone through when he destroyed everything in his way!"

At this, Levy sighed. _'What his team has gone through? What about **him**? Isn't **he** just as important? I'm starting to see why Natsu snapped like that... Gajeel was right. They really can be selfish sometimes...'_

* * *

Yato smiled and showed Natsu and Juvia a beautiful room.

"This shall be your room for the night. Make sure to not forget about the job though!", Yato chuckled, winking to the two mages before leaving.

Natsu and Juvia looked at each other confused. Then, Juvia entered the room and started looking around, analyzing everything.

"Wow... This room sure is spacious...", she murmured, staring at all the details of the room. Her eyes landed on the bed, and she sighed. "There's only one bed though..."

Natsu simply plopped himself in the king-sized bed, rolling around like a dog in the grass.

"This bed is soo~ comfyy~!"

Juvia raised an eyebrow at the happy dragon slayer. Curious, she sat herself on the bed. After a few moments, she let herself fall on the bed, a wide smile spreading on her lips.

"Natsu-san's right... This bed is so awesoomeee..."

Natsu stopped rolling and drifted his eyes to Juvia, smiling softly. This girl sure was different... Everything from her hair to her personality was different, and he liked it. This was nothing like the gloomy rain woman she seemed to be on the outside, and didn't fit any description Gray ever gave him about her. She was not a stalker, she was not only thinking about her 'Gray-sama', she was confident, caring, loving... He could go on like this for the whole day!

_'Popsicle is such a liar...'_, he thought._ 'Juvia is not a creepy rain woman. She's a lot more than that... And that makes me hate that ice bastard even more for saying bad things about her!'_

Juvia watched curious as different expressions played on Natsu's face: love, anger, sadness... Suddenly, all of that disappeared as Natsu let out a sigh, erasing any visible emotion from his face.

"Is Natsu-san okay?", Juvia asked cautiously. She knew too well that he was conflicted with himself... Not that she was any different though...

Natsu quickly turned at her with a wide smile spread on his face. "So~ Juvia..."

"Hm?"

"What're we going to do while we stay here?", he asked.

She shrugged. "Juvia doesn't know. What does Natsu-san want to do?'

Natsu stood a moment, thinking. "How 'bout we play somethin'?"

"Hmm... Okay, but what should Natsu-san and Juvia play?"

Natsu studied carefully as she sank deep in thought. He started to slowly and silently approach her, like a lion approaching his prey...

He started tickling her quickly.

Oh she was _not_ expecting that!

Juvia burst in laughter as she tried to stop his hands from tickling her any further.

"N-N-Natsu-s-san... S-S-S-top t-tickling me-e! Ha Ha Ha!"

Natsu ignored her completely. In the end, Juvia caught his hands with her elbows (an incredible move, that is), stopping him. He was now behind her, with his arms snuck around her waist.

_His arms._

_Snuck around her waist._

.

.

.

Juvia blushed furiously as he removed his hands cautiously, so she won't hit him, as Lucy or Erza would. She turned her head towards him, expecting him to have one of those expressions she read in Levy's books. But he, on the other hand, was now thinking of a new tickle attack. He wore one of the most stupid faces Juvia has ever seen.

The reason why she burst into uncontrollable laughter the next second.

"Hm? Why're ya' laughing, Juvia?", he asked, not aware of his previous expression.

Juvia stood a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "Y-You."

"Me what?"

"Had that face."

"What face?"

"Natsu-san..."

"Yeah?"

"YOU LOOKED HILARIOUS!", she said once again before bursting into laughter again, while Natsu just watched her dumbfounded, thinking girls are weird.

* * *

Team Natsu - and Wendy - were walking merrily down the road, looking for Natsu and Juvia...

"Wendy, where are we again?", Lucy sighed, kicking a rock.

"You asked me five minutes ago, Lucy-san...", Wendy shook her head. "We're in Oak Town."

"URGH! Where the heck are they?! On the moon?!", Lucy yelled, exasperated.

Carla scoffed. "Stop being so annoying and selfish, Lucy! We're all just as tired of walking as you are!"

"You know, Lushi, Carla is right. You complain too much...", Happy added.

Lucy kicked him. "SHUT UP YOU STUPID CAT!"

Happy rubbed his bruise, sighing. _'I miss Natsu... He wouldn't hit me, he would always laugh...'_

* * *

Natsu and Juvia were both sitting on the bed, looking at a paper.

"I think we should hide under a table, wait for them to come, then come out and kick their asses. There! Job's done!", Natsu said, proud of his 'clever' plan.

"I think we should rather split. One of us will fight them and see what they're capable of. This way we should be able to find an easier way to defeat them, and we'll also have the surprise element on our side, since one of us will be hidden while the other will be fighting", Juvia spoke, proud of her better plan.

"Hmm... Sounds good, but complicated. We should find something more easy..."

"It's not complicated at all!", Juvia scoffed, elbowing him.

"Yes it is! My plan is easier and better!", Natsu retorted, and stuck out his tongue.

"No it isn't! Juvia's plan is 100% better than Natsu-san's will ever be!"

"MINE!"

"JUVIA'S!"

Natsu and Juvia soon started brawling. The paper fell on the floor, forgotten. After a few good minutes of brawling, Natsu got tired and stopped doing anything. Juvia, seeing this as an advantage for her to win, jumped on him and caught his arms. Now, she was standing on top of him, their faces only a few inches apart. A smug smile spread on her face.

"Looks like Juvia won, Natsu-sama."

.

.

.

A blush made its way on Natsu's cheeks. Luckily for him, his tanned skin made it hard to notice. Juvia soon realized she changed the suffix at the end of his name and tried to ignore the warmth growing in her cheeks.

"O-Oh, J-Juvia said '-sama'? Sorry, J-Juvia meant-"

"No biggie", Natsu smiled. "I like how it sounds."

She smiled softly, letting out a giggle. They stared at each other for a good one minute. Suddenly, she let a squeak and jumped off him, landing on the pillow. Natsu raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Juvia, is everything alright?", he asked concerned.

"J-Juvia is s-so sorry!", she squeaked again.

"Sorry for what?"

"For st-standing on top of you!"

Natsu blinked a few times before he burst into laughter. Juvia's blush disappeared as she stared at him, confused.

"Why is Natsu-sama laughing?"

He looked at her for a moment, calming his laughter, then quickly leaned and kissed the tip of her nose.

"That's no reason for you to be sorry, you idiot!", he chuckled.

Juvia stood a moment to process everything that happened. Soon, she blushed furiously, and she covered her face. Natsu started laughing again and moved her hands away to pinch her cheeks.

"Aww, you're adorable!", he spoke, which only made her face redden even more, if that was possible.

Juvia finally gave up and let herself collapse on the bed again. "Juvia's tired..."

"Yeah, I'm tired too...", Natsu yawned.

They settled themselves in the bed, preparing for sleep. Before closing her eyes, Juvia glared at him.

"Juvia'll get her revenge. You'll see."

Natsu only chuckled. Soon, they both fell asleep.

_'Again, an amazing night. Why is Juvia so happy when she is with Natsu-sama...?'_

* * *

**Wow, I sure was in a good mood today. Wrote a lot of fluff in this chapter, it seems.**

**Hope ya' liked it****!**

**Sakura Petal out!**


	5. Contrast

**I AM SO SO SORRY FOR THE DELAYED UPDATE!****!****!**

**I was busy with writing for school, which was hell, and one of my lil' bro's classmates broke his arm. Been dealing with lots of stress lately, but I'll get over it, don't worry.**

**Also, this chapter shall be named "Contrast" 'cause that's just how it's going on now. Team Natsu - sad, NaVia team - happy. Contrast, pretty much.**

**More boring A/N, me replying to some guests and me fangirling below the chapter.**

* * *

The wind was blowing gently, caressing the flowers' soft petals. The sky was clear, only a few fluffy pink clouds following the sun, waiting for the moon to make its appearance.

Team Natsu - without Natsu - were preparing to camp at a town's outskirts. They were all quiet, something so unusual for the Fairy Tail mages...

Lucy was starting to feel Natsu and Juvia's absence more as the silence persisted. She was embarrassed to admit, but, as much as she used to complain about Natsu's loud talking and fighting and Juvia's threats all the time, now she would give almost anything to hear them again. Though, she decided to stop thinking about it and focus on finding and convincing Natsu to return to the team...

Gray was very eager to punch something, most likely the fire dragon slayer's face, and was very annoyed that the idiot fire breath wasn't there to fight him. As much as he liked to call his and Natsu's relationship a rivalry, Gray was actually as attached to him as to a brother. Juvia's absence was very obvious as well, and he was too stubborn to admit it, but he missed having her fangirl behind him. Sure it could get annoying sometimes, but he felt... appreciated, somehow (and he will never say it out loud, but he thought she was an awesome cook).

Carla was pretty affected too, but also very bored. She got used to their noise hardly, and thought they were all just as loud, but now she realized Natsu was pretty much the core of the guild and Juvia was the happy girl who always brought a smile to their faces everyday and brightened her surroundings with her optimism, and without these two, almost the entire guild stopped functioning correctly. Though, she was pretty surprised at how harsh Natsu spoke to his fellow guildmates, she couldn't deny him; he was right about the things he said. And, deep down, she knew Juvia was feeling better with Natsu beside her after the heartbreak Gray caused her. Wendy was thinking just the same, only she realized Natsu was starting to look pretty down as well...

Erza had a killing desire. She wanted to punch Natsu's brains back in for going away on a job... but she had no right, as it was her fault he left in the first place. She **knew** it was everybody's fault that he was gone, but she couldn't stop blaming herself the most for it, as she always started blaming Natsu for every damaged thing in the guild or in a city after a job was finished. She sighed and decided to move the matter aside for a moment, as she was busy carrying some firewood for the camp and didn't want the others to see her like this.

Happy had it the hardest. The one who raised him, his **father**, his **best friend**, his **comrade**, was upset at them. The blue Exceed put all the blame on himself; because of him, Natsu started to distance himself from everyone. If only he hadn't left Natsu's wooden house for Lucy's comfortable apartment, if only he would've at least tried to be around Natsu more even when they didn't live under the same roof anymore... But now, Happy was wondering: why was Natsu with Juvia though? Why were they together, they didn't use to be that close?

Soon, they all returned to the camp, sighing, sad and empty. Happy ultimately started crying, and the whole team had a hard time to make him feel better, as they were all in a similar state. Soon, Happy fell asleep, chubby face wet with tears, and the others finally had the peace and quiet that they wanted... and which reminded them all of the two goners.

* * *

Birds chirped happily, announcing the start of a new day. The sun sneaked some warm rays through the curtain, which hit Juvia's eyes.

The blue-haired mage groaned and slowly got up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, but failing like any other human being. She scratched her messy hair, squinting her eyes around the room. Natsu's pink, fluffy hair caught her attention pretty soon...

Juvia stared at his hair and zoned out...

His hair looked so **_fluffeh_**... Should she dare touch it? No no no, what if he wakes up? Why should she risk touching his hair? But it was sooo fluffyyy~

Juvia's hand was approaching Natsu's hair... Closer... **Closer**...

Suddenly, Juvia sees two emerald eyes staring intently at her. She squeaks and hides under the sheets.

"...What were you doing, Juvia?", Natsu asked, slightly amused, slightly confused.

"N-Nothing!"

"...Ya' sure? You know you can tell me, right? I won't bite you or anything, in case that's why you're so scared", he chuckles.

Natsu could almost feel the glare Juvia sent her, even though her entire body was hidden under the sheets.

"...J-Juvia was wanting to touch N-Natsu-sama's hair..."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to touch my hair?"

"...It looks so... _FLUFFEHH_", Juvia chirped.

The pink-haired dragon slayer was trying to not laugh at the tone of her voice. Seriously, she sounded like a baby!

...Wait, why would he think that? _**ANYWAY**_, Natsu took the protective sheets away to reveal a still-excited-about-how-fluffy-Natsu's-hair-looks Juvia.

"You can touch my hair if you want, but only if you'll stop hiding from me", Natsu said in a serious tone, but the grin on his face ruined the whole '_stop hiding from me or you die_' impression he was trying to give.

Juvia's blue eyes sparkled like a million diamonds, and slowly approached Natsu's hair. She gently caressed it, and Natsu just couldn't tear his eyes away from her happy and excited face. Soon, she stopped, but Natsu was still staring intently at her. A blush spread on her cheeks.

"N-Natsu-sama... W-Why are y-you staring at J-Juvia like that?"

Natsu blinked a few times before his face turned red and he turned around to hide his embarrassment from her. "I-I wasn't staring!"

Juvia looked at him for a moment, confused, before she let a devious grin spread on her face. She moved over to face him again and snickered.

"Ohoho~, is Natsu-sama embarrassed~?"

"WHAT?! OF COURSE NOT! WHY WOULD I BE?"

She ignored Natsu's loud protests and continued giggling and teasing him.

Suddenly, they heard a cough behind them. They turned around and saw Yato staring at them, his arms crossed over his chest, as he gently coughed again.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The two mages both turned red as they kept shaking their heads as a 'no'. Yato narrow his eyes at them, intimidating them, before he laughed loudly, startling them.

"Ahh~, young love! Well then, come on, we need to start working!", he cheered and left the two confused and embarrassed as heck.

* * *

**Ahh, now I can finally continue my useless ranting about myself****! Yay~**

**O_O Thank you SO much for the 96 reviews until now****!****! This is awesooomeee****!****! Also, thank you for all the favs and follows, I love you all too much for my own good****!****!****  
**

**...**

**Sorry for ruining all the happiness, but it's possible that, after school ends, I'll be moving somewhere else. There, there'll be no computer and no internet. That means no update. I'll announce all of you when that happens, if that happens.**

**Now, on to some replying~:**

**Guest 1: Wow, thanks****! I'm glad you like it****! ...Looks like I updated now, hehe...**

**Anime Lover: I hath updated. *reads further* O/O**

**Guest 2: Chapter, oh, chapter, where art thou?**

**TamAiko: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Don't worry, I'll try to introduce these as the story advances. I won't dare abandon this fic****! [wow you sure wrote a lot]**

**Now that everything's good, I shall return to my homework~**

**See ya' later dear followers****!****!**


	6. Disappear

**Aaaah thank you for being so awesome and reviewing/faving/following! It makes me so happy to know you people appreciate what I do!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Yato lead the two Fairy Tail mages in the basement of his mighty house. The place was quite messy, a weird contrast with the rooms Natsu and Juvia saw before, probably revealing a more weird part of the respectable, formal and happy Yato.

"Juvia think this place is really... um... interesting...", Juvia said quietly, trying not to be rude.

Natsu, on the other hand, had different opinions.

"This place looks like shit", he loudly said.

Juvia quickly stepped on his foot, then turned her face away from him. When Natsu turned around to see who the culprit was, he only met Juvia's suspicious whistling.

Yato watched the exchange between them very amused and laughed. "Yes, you're right, Natsu-san, and I'm very glad you had the courage to voice your opinion, many people don't have that. Well, I don't really visit this place a lot, and only use it as a workplace-"

"I knew it!", Natsu cheered victoriously, and Juvia quickly elbowed him.

"Oh, come on Juvia-**_chan_**, no need to be so serious, have some fun", Yato teased her, wanting a reaction from Natsu, and winked at her.

Juvia stuttered, considering this as a flirtatious act, while Natsu glared and growled. Yato let out a hearty laugh.

"I knew I'll get you jealous, Natsu-san!", he laughed, receiving a confused glance from Juvia and an embarrassed one from Natsu, who blushed.

"I-I'm **not jealous**!", Natsu yelled in a very tsundere way.

"Who knows?", Yato playfully shrugged. "You might be. You may just not realize it yet."

Natsu soon started thinking if the growling and glaring was_ really_ an act of jealousy. He spaced out for a pretty long moment, and missed the reason he was in Yato's basement in the first place, which was explained exactly when our dragon slayer spaced out. He soon shook all the thoughts away when he felt Juvia's hands on his shoulders.

"Natsu-sama, haven't you heard Yato-san? He told us to start working on a new plan", she told him.

Natsu was taken aback by this. "What?! When did he say that? Why haven't I heard anything?"

Yato chuckled. "You were spacing out since I told you about jealousy, Natsu-san, that's why you didn't hear. You were too buried in thoughts to pay any attention to your surroundings, that's all."

"So.. What are we doing now?", Natsu asked, still a bit confused.

"We're going to actually make that plan you should've done last night again, before you got a little... ahem... _**preoccupied**_... "

Natsu and Juvia turned into tomatoes as soon as they heard that and started denying.

"W-We haven't done **anything** last night!", Juvia stuttered, embarrassed as heck.

"Y-You **pervert**!", Natsu screeched in a way nobody ever thought he could.

Yato snickered. It sure was easy to tease the Fairy Tail mages... He patted Natsu on the shoulder.

"There, there. It's nothing wrong with doing something like that, everybody does it at a point of their lives, you know? Plus, how do you think you appeared here?", he cackled with a weird smile on his face, but his speech did nothing but leave Natsu and Juvia more embarrassed than they were already.

**_Damn_**, Yato liked to tease them.

"Well, now let's get to work!", Yato cheered and they all started working and debating a new plan to replace the silly ones that Natsu and Juvia made.

* * *

Team Natsu was on its way to find Natsu and Juvia, only a few villages away from Yato's mansion, when...

"I lost their scent."

.

.

.

"WHAT?!", they all screamed, almost breaking poor Wendy's ears.

"Be quiet, you're hurting her ears!", Carla scolded them.

"I-It's okay, Carla...", Wendy muttered, smiling slightly at her overprotective cat.

Panicked, they all engulfed her in questions.

"W-What do you mean you just lost their scent?", Lucy shrieked.

"A-Are you sure? Maybe they suddenly started running...?", Gray desperately suggested.

"Does that mean we w-won't find Natsu...?", Happy asked quietly, almost crying.

Wendy was going to respond to all of them, feeling bad for not being able to find them in the end, but right then Erza came in with the last question.

"**What do you mean you lost their scent?**", she spoke, disturbingly calm, scarlet bangs covering her eyes, walking slowly towards the scared young dragon slayer.

Everybody got out of her way, except Carla, who stayed by Wendy's side, glaring at Erza for looking at Wendy like that. The armored mage leaned slightly to get a better look at Wendy's face and stared at her persistently. Wendy just didn't know what to do, and was too afraid to speak. Trembling in fear, she tried to ignore Erza's menacing gaze, but wherever she averted her eyes, the red-head's insistent stare was feeling as if it was burning holes in her head.

"**Speak**. What do you mean you** lost** their scent?", Erza repeated, wanting an answer from the bluenette.

"U-Umm... T-Their scent is n-no more... It s-should've fa-faded a long ti-me ago...", she stuttered, afraid of any violent reaction the mage might have and watching her every move.

Carla watched Wendy, her eyes filled with worry of what the child might think, afraid that the red-haired woman will scare her more than she will intend to...

"Is there **anything** you can do about it?", the armored mage insisted.

"I-I don't t-think so...", Wendy spluttered. "I'm s-sorry..."

"Okay then. We shall return to the guild at once", Erza spoke, turning around and walking away from her.

Wendy cursed her sensitive ears when she heard the red-head mutter_ 'We should've brought Gajeel instead'_. It made her feel so useless, so weak, so inutile... Tears formed in her eyes as she recalled every moment she let down her friends...

_'I can't do anything...'_, she thought, holding back her tears. _'How can I dare say I wish to protect my friends if I can't even track Natsu-san and Juvia-san down? I'm just a worthless brat they mercifully adopted and promised to protect'_. Without realizing, teardrops rolled down her cheeks rapidly, smashing on the ground. _'Erza-san is right. I should've stayed at the guild, Gajeel-san is infinitely more powerful and useful than I'll ever be...'_

Carla heard drops falling on the ground.

_'Is it raining?'_

She raised her head to the sky. No dark rain clouds to be seen, no raindrops falling on her face.

Hesitantly, she turned to Wendy. Just as she expected, the girl was crying. Anger boiled in her veins as she watched the red-haired mage walk to their camp alongside the others, not even realizing one person wasn't with them. She gritted her teeth and started shouting.

"You... You **stupid** woman! You scare the life out of _**my**_ Wendy and then you don't even **bother** to see if she's coming with you to the camp or not? How can you be that** careless**?! She's **your friend** as well, for God's sake!"

Erza quickly turned around, wondering what's wrong, a stern look on her face, expression that quickly disappeared as soon as she saw the tears falling down Wendy's face. Quickly, she rushed to her to see what happened, slightly touching her shoulders, trying to grab her and ask her what's wrong...

...But Wendy backed away, afraid, thinking the scarlet-haired mage is mad at her for crying like a baby. That confused Erza to the ends of the earth, so she turned her head to Carla, silently demanding answers with narrowed eyes.

"This is all your fault", Carla accused. "Can't you control yourself? You scared her to death!"

Wendy, soon realizing that Erza wasn't mad at her, tried to calm down, but failed. Carla, of course, saw this failed attempt and got even more angry.

"I...I'm sorry I-I disappointed you, E-Erza-san...", Wendy murmured just as Erza was about to say something to Carla. "I-I know I sh-should've just stayed at the guild... Y-You said it yours-self, y-you should've b-brought Gajeel..."

Everybody's eyes widened at this, especially Erza and Carla's.

_'S-She heard that?'_, Erza though, even more guilty and sad.

"You said **what**?!", Carla spoke out loud, glaring at Erza. "No wonder she's crying! Not only did you scare her, but you also made her feel **useless** because of that comment! Don't you realize **the weight** of your words?!"

"B-But I didn't want to-"

"NO WONDER NATSU AND JUVIA LEFT!", Carla shouted and was going to continue, until she realized what exactly she had said and clasped her paws over her mouth.

Erza was standing still, scarlet bangs covering her eyes as the wind blew, a sudden tension growing in the air as every second that passed seemed like an eternity. Wendy, panicked, quickly wiped her almost dried out tears and tried to excuse her Exceed.

"E-Erza-san, I'm sure s-she didn't mean to-"

"No Wendy, she's right", Erza spoke calmly, yet the small crack in her voice when she finished her sentence didn't go unnoticed. "I apologize for making you cry, and for scaring you, I honestly didn't mean to. You can hit me if you want to", she finished in the all-too-known Erza manner.

"Uh... I don't think t-that will be needed, Erza-san", Wendy spoke, confused as this was the first time Erza ever asked her to hit her.

"Okay, I think we should start packing now...?", Gray suggested.

"Yeah, we should probably get going", Lucy agreed.

Erza sighed. "Okay then. Let's start packing and go on our way."

* * *

"Oooookay then, let's see if I got it", Natsu said and Juvia rolled her eyes.

"Go ahead", Yato chuckled.

"So, the bad guys want that book, so they'll come take it tonight, right?"

"Yes Natsu-san."

"So, we close all the windows and let only the one to the library, where the book is, open, so the bad guys will have no other option than go through that window, right?"

"Of course, Natsu-san."

"We go in the library and hide, waiting for the bad guys to show up, and when they do, we attack them right?"

"Even if that wasn't in the plan you would've done it, so, yes, of course."

"Then we just kick their asses while making sure the book doesn't get damaged and BAM! Book is safe! Job done!", Natsu grinned. Just the idea of him kicking the bad guys' asses and impressing Juvia made him jump in happiness... Wait, what? Impress Juvia? Where did that come from? ANYWAY.

Yato chuckled. "Yes, Natsu-san, that's the plan."

"Yosh! Let's go to the library and get ready then!"

"Okay, Natsu-san, but make sure you won't get... cough, _**preoccupied**_ again, alright?", Yato smirked, winking suggestively at Natsu and Juvia.

_'Old pervert!'_, Juvia shrieked in her head, joining Natsu in tomato-transforming.

Yato's smile suddenly fell, startling Natsu and Juvia. "Now, jokes aside, this is a serious matter. Remember, our lives are at stake, so we've got to take this job seriously. Anything goes wrong, and we might end up dead."

Natsu and Juvia glanced at each other, knowing it was important. Yato smiled widely.

"Alright then! Let's go to the library and get readyy!", he cheered and started waltzing to the library.

_'He sure changes emotions fast, I guess...?'_, Natsu thought, and took Juvia by the wrist, following Yato into the library.

As soon as they got in there, Natsu's loud mouth activated...

"**WOAH!** It's so **huugeee**! How many books do you have here? Since when do you have this library? How old are yo-"

"Ookaaay Natsu-sama, Juvia thinks that's enough for now", Juvia giggled.

Yato snickered. "So... From Natsu-**san** to Natsu-**sama**, huh? Ahh~, young love!"

How many times did Natsu and Juvia transform into tomatoes today? Sigh.

Suddenly, Natsu's sensitive ears picked up on something in one of the corners of the library.

"Natsu-sama, how about we-"

"Shh", Natsu shushed her. "I heard something, you should be quiet. That applies to you too, Yato."

After both Juvia and Yato were quiet, Natsu cautiously approached the corner, praying that it was just a rat or something.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Purple smoke came out from behind a pillar of books, smoke that instantly put Natsu, Juvia and Yato to sleep as soon as they inhaled it. Two strange people, wearing black-panther masks, approached them carefully.

"You go get the book, I'll tie them up. Hurry up, we don't want boss to punish us again", one of them cringed to the other quickly and started to tie them up after gazing for a few brief moments on a bracelet present on his hand with a glowing purple light.

Soon, Natsu and Juvia were all tied up in a sack, while Yato was the same in another. The other masked man came with a large, black book with nothing written on its covers in his hands. They put the book in the sack where Yato was and ran from the mansion as fast as they could.

**\- Timeskip - After One month -**

Gajeel came to talk to Makarov for the tenth time since Team Natsu returned.

"Hey, old man, it's been an **entire month** since Natsu and Juvia disappeared! Go send someone find them!", he growled.

"Eh, I'm sure they're fine, stop worrying so much, they're Fairy Tail wizards after all", Makarov spoke as usual.

But this time, Levy came too.

"Master, I am pretty sure if something wasn't wrong, they would've returned by now. The job wasn't even S-Class, how do you explain why they're missing still?"

Erza arrived as well.

"I am sure we could send a small party team to search for them...?"

Mirajane appeared from behind them.

"We could try and see what we can do, couldn't we, Master?", she smiled.

Makarov hesitated.

"..._Or else I'll let Cana drink all the booze again_."

"I'll send Team Natsu right away", Makarov spoke quickly. "Erza, take whoever you want. You're in charge."

Erza, of course, took Natsu's team, Wendy, Gajeel (because two dragon slayers are better than one, right?) and Levy, who stressed her out to tag along. They also took some communication lacrimas with them - courtesy of Mirajane -, just to be safe.

Soon, they went on a new quest: the one to find and bring Natsu and Juvia back to the guild, their home, and apologize for all their past mistakes that lead to this mess...

* * *

Natsu groggily opened his eyes. He tried to move his arms and feet, but all in vain; he was all tied up. Looking around, he realized he was in a room similar to a prison cell, Juvia right beside him. He had his wrists and ankles cuffed, suspended, his feet not reaching the ground. Yato was nowhere to be found, and neither was the book.

He started struggling, but in vain. The cuffs were draining his magic, so he had no hope of escaping any time soon. He soon stopped moving and quickly pretended to be asleep as he heard footsteps on the hallway outside the cell.

Another masked man, this one with a black lion mask, guarded by two others, entered the cell. He waved his guards to go, and approached Natsu slowly.

"Natsu Dragneel~", he spoke in a happy, but still gruffy voice. A voice that seemed familiar to Natsu, one way or another... "I had always hoped to encounter you! Such a shame you're not awake to meet me... Oh well. I was planning on burrowing Yato's secret book much later, but as soon as I found out you were here, I couldn't help but send my slaves quickly and finish the job more quickly than we expected to."

Natsu could almost feel the hidden smirk from behind his mask as he spoke. "Well, we'll speak about this later, it's no fun talking to you while you're asleep~".

Natsu could soon hear the cell door opening again with an unpleasant, squeaking sound.

"You'll soon be my slave too, son of Igneel. You'll soon remember me...", Natsu heard the man mutter once again before closing the door and leaving.

* * *

**Sorry for the kinda rushed ending, but my brother was kicking me out from his computer so I had to hurry and finish.**

**Welp, hope you liked it! ^_^ I hope I'll manage to update soon!**

**Let's reply to some guest reviews, shall we?**

**Anime Lover: I'm updating, I'm updating!**

**Guest 1: I'm glad you like it! Yes, I'm updating.**

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**Guest 2: Yeah, NaVia is soo underrated -.- I'm glad you like it!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter! ^_^ It will be very confusing though... I'm pretty sure you'll all kill me with questions after it... *smiles in fear***


	7. Searching

**Hey! ^_^**

**Here's the new chapter! Please don't kill me...**

**Also, as you can see, the rating became T. That's because I added something here that makes me paranoid about the rating. It's not that much of a big deal, but me, being the paranoid I am, see it as such.**

**I'll name the masked people by their masks to avoid repeating "the man with the bla bla bla mask" or "the woman with the bla bla bla mask". Seriously, it would get annoying.**

**Beware Gajeel's swearing this chapter.**

**Anyway, enjoy! I guess...**

* * *

Team Natsu, Gajeel, Levy and Wendy soon arrived at Yato's mansion. They searched the entire house for Natsu and Juvia, but the house was empty.

Erza started giving orders.

"Gajeel and Wendy, try sniffing either Natsu, Juvia or their employer. We need to find them. Gray and Lucy, go find whatever Natsu and Juvia needed to protect, maybe it could help us. Levy, you come with me."

The Exceeds were forgotten.

"Erza! What about us?", Carla yelled in a very unlady-like manner, something unusual for her.

Erza blinked a few times before remembering about the Exceeds. "O-Oh. I apologize, Carla. You Exceeds can go with your partners", she spoke and walked away.

Carla scoffed, obviously annoyed, and went with Lily to their Dragon Slayers, while Happy went after Lucy.

.

Gajeel and Wendy arrived in the library and started searching. They both soon found signs that Natsu, Juvia and their employer have been there... but not alone.

"Gajeel-san! Look what I found!", Wendy called for the iron eater, and showed him some bombs.

Gajeel looked at them, before he turned to Wendy quickly. "You didn't sniff them, didn't you?!"

Wendy, startled by the question, shook her head quickly. Gajeel sighed in relief.

"Good. These bombs still have some of the smoke they had in them."

"Smoke?", Wendy asked, confused.

"These are special bombs used by assassins. The smoke they contain put everyone who inhales it to sleep instantly and drains their magic for 24 hours", Gajeel explained. "That's why I was afraid you sniffed them."

Wendy quickly nodded. Gajeel took the bombs and put them in his bag, then they started looking for more clues about what may have happened.

"Have you found anything?"

Gajeel and Wendy turned around, startled by the voice.

"O-Oh, it's just you, Lily", Gajeel sighed.

"So?", the Exceed insisted.

"We found some bombs that have some smoke in them that puts people to sleep and drains their magic instantly for a day", Wendy replied.

Lily looked confused. "Aren't those used by assassins?"

Gajeel sighed. "They are. Now come 'ere and help us find more clues about what happened."

Lily rolled his eyes and started helping them.

"Wendy, Lily, come over here for a sec", Gajeel called, and Wendy and Lily jogged towards him.

"What's wrong, Gajeel-san?"

The iron dragon slayer showed them a knife. "I think I have enough clues to say Flame Breath and Rain Woman were attacked by assassins."

Lily's eyes widened. "What makes you think that, Gajeel?"

"There are no signs that there's been a battle, there are the bombs you found that put people instantly to sleep and drain their magic and then there's this knife that's poisoned, something only assassins have. I have enough proof that there were at least two assassins here, and took Flame Breath, Rain Woman and their employer away."

The bluenette looked down at her hands. "I-I think we should go to Erza-san and tell her these things already..."

Gajeel shook his head. "Nah. We have to search for everything that may give us a hint to where Flame Breath and Rain Woman are. We can't find them without a lead."

Wendy understood and nodded sadly. Lily looked around and spotted a black cloth laying on the floor. He took it and analyzed it thoroughly...

"Gajeel! Wendy! Can you sniff this and see if you find any tracks on Natsu and Juvia?"

Gajeel took the cloth out of Lily's paws quickly and sniffed it, then sniffed the air and the ground. After that, he turned to Wendy and Lily with a smirk.

"Looks like we got our track."

Smiles broke on Lily and Wendy's faces. "Let's go to Erza then!"

.

Gray and Lucy were in the room Natsu and Juvia slept, looking for any clues on what the two were guarding. After a pretty long time, Lucy sighed exasperated and plopped herself on the bed.

"Gahh! We can't find anythiingg!"

Gray couldn't help but chuckle at her annoyed face. She glared at him.

"Stop laughing, idiot...", she grumbled.

Gray rolled his eyes and, since they already searched everywhere in the room, looked under the bed. To his surprise, he saw a big piece of paper and took it to see what it's written on it.

To his dismay, it was just the mansion's plan...

"What's that?"

Gray turned around to see Happy at the door.

"Oh, hey Happy!", Lucy smiled. Happy frowned in return.

"Hey Happy. It's nothing, I thought we finally got a lead...", Gray sighed.

Happy glanced at the blonde who was still smiling.

"Ne, Lucy?"

She hummed in response.

"How come you're so happy since Natsu and Juvia went away?", the blue Exceed asked, sad.

Her smile fell instantly. She looked down at her hands, all the happiness gone from her eyes.

"I just wanted to stay happy for you... I miss Natsu and Juvia too, you know", she sighed.

"Well, you don't need to stay happy for me", Happy said, looking down. "It's my fault he's gone..."

"No it's not", she argued.

"Yes it is!", Happy yelled back, startling her. "I-If only I hadn't moved in with y-you and abandoned him, Natsu wouldn't have gone away!"

The pair watched the blue Exceed as he started sobbing. Gray took Happy in his arms.

"Stop blaming yourself, Happy...", he whispered, trying to calm down the crying Exceed. "It's only our fault..."

Erza burst in the room, startling them.

"Come on, Gajeel sniffed them out!", she yelled, and went away.

Happy wiped away his tears and burst out of the room. Gray and Lucy just sighed and went to Erza, knowing the Exceed was and will always be just as stubborn as his foster father...

.

As Team Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy and Levy went away, Gajeel leading them to wherever Natsu and Juvia were, two eyes in the shadows spied them.

"They're here."

* * *

A man with a black lion mask hold his wrist up, the hologram of a masked woman coming out of his bracelet.

"They're here", she said.

The black lion smirked. "Took them long enough", he spoke to himself, then turned to the woman's hologram. "That's all for now, you can return to the headquarters. Wait for orders after you return."

She bowed, and the hologram disappeared. The black lion chuckled.

"Time for your first mission, newbies", he said and tapped his bracelet.

Soon, a man and a woman were brought by some guards, who walked outside as soon as they shoved the man and woman in.

The black lion rose from his chair and walked in front of the man and woman, his hands behind his back.

"Nice to see you again, newbies."

The man growled at him, while the woman just glared. The black lion snickered.

"You got some courage, disrespecting me like that. I should punish you, buut, since you're still new to the house, I'll forgive you..."

"What do you want from us?", she asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

The black lion smiled. "It's finally time for your first mission, lads~"

The man raised an eyebrow. "What do we have to do?"

"Get rid of the fairies that are on their way to us...", the black lion spoke, amused.

The man and woman's eyes widened.

"Never!", they shouted.

The masked man started chuckling again, startling the hostages.

"I was sure you'll say that... But you can't disobey me."

He smiled and tapped his bracelet again. The wristbands that they had sparked, and the man and woman fell on the floor, holding their wrists and panting, like they did since they received their special wristbands.

"S-Stop it-t...", he whispered. "Y-You're hurting he-r..."

Giggling, the black lion looked at him. "Ah, but that's the point, buddy. How will you listen to me if you don't have a reason to do so?"

The man looked with disgust at him for a minute, the temperature raising up. But, as soon as it raised, the black lion tapped again on his bracelet, and the man started whimpering in pain, closing his eyes.

"Nu-uh, no magic using here", the masked man snickered. "That's against the rules."

The woman soon started whispering something. The black lion raised his eyebrow and tapped his bracelet again.

"What was that, dear? I didn't hear, speak louder."

"W-We accept...", she whimpered.

The masked man smirked, and tapped on his bracelet again. Their wristbands sparked again, and soon they started panting, feeling all the pain go away.

"That's my girl. I'll tell you what you have to do right away. I hope the training you went through during these months weren't for nothing..."

* * *

Team Natsu, Gajeel, Levy and Wendy were on their way to who-knows-where.

Gajeel was leading the way... but not really, Erza did, he just gave her signs on where to go. Suddenly, he heard something behind him that peaked his interest.

"Stop blaming yourself, Wendy", Carla sighed. "It's not your fault."

"Y-Yes it is, Carla!", the girl protested. "I-If only I wouldn't have lost their scent back then, they would've been at the guild, safe and sound!"

Carla rolled her eyes and went to speak to Happy.

Gajeel gave Erza some more signs and turned to Wendy and Carla.

"Hey Wendy", he spoke while they talked, startling them.

"I-Is everything alright, Gajeel-san?", Wendy stuttered.

"Yeah, it is... for me. But it seems things aren't okay for you, aren't they?", he said, glancing at her.

Wendy looked down, cursing his good hearing.

"So, what's wrong, pipsqueak?", Gajeel asked her.

Wendy sighed. "It's just... It's my fault Natsu and Juvia were attacked by assassins."

"Hm? Why's that?", Gajeel raised an eyebrow.

"I-If only I wouldn't have lost their scent back then, we would've arrived in t-time, they would've been safe... So i-'s my fau-"

She was interrupted by Gajeel ruffling her hair.

"S-Stop it, Gajeel-san!"

"I won't if you won't stop blaming yourself. It was **their** fault", he gestured to Team Natsu, excluding Levy and the Exceeds. "They should've asked she-devil about Flame Breath and Rain Woman's job request, and this way you would've known where to go."

Wendy looked down, not saying anything.

"So you agree I'm right", Gajeel smirked at her.

"I-I haven't said anything!", Wendy protested.

"Ya' know, silence is an answer too", he chuckled and ruffled her hair again. "Talk to me if you ever have a problem, 'kay?"

Wendy nodded, a small smile rising on her lips, and started thinking and overthinking. Not realizing, she remained behind.

Gajeel kept giving Erza signs and randomly chit-chatting with the others. Suddenly, he heard a cry. Turning around quickly, he saw a man with a red dragon mask holding a knife at her neck.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!", he yelled. "**IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!**"

The red dragon threw Wendy away from the roar, then jumped to safety as well.

"**SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!**"

The red dragon was hit by the sudden attack, his mask almost falling off. A woman with a blue dragon mask quickly jumped out of a tree and attacked Lucy.

"**Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!**", Lucy shouted, a bright light enveloping her as she called the masochist spirit.

"Punishment, princess?", Virgo asked.

"Not now, attack the assassins!", Lucy scolded, and sent a Lucy-Kick of her own to the blue dragon.

The red dragon unsheathed his sword and started attacking Erza with all his might. The armored mage quickly requipped her Heavenly Wheel's armor and fought back.

"Solid Script: Storm!", Levy attacks as well the red dragon, helping Erza out.

"**Ice-Make: Hammer!**", Gray yelled and attacked the blue dragon.

The red dragon muttered something not even Gajeel or Wendy understood and punched Levy with a fist enveloped in fire, surprising everyone. The blue dragon muttered something as well and attacked Gray with a water whip that was actually her arm.

"**IRON DRAGON'S HARD FIST!**", roared Gajeel, attacking her.

The red dragon muttered something under his breath again and kicked Gajeel with flaming feet.

"**IRON DRAGON'S SWORD!**", the iron dragon slayer riposted, catching the red dragon off-guard.

Meanwhile, Lucy called out Loke as well, her, Gray and Wendy surrounding the blue dragon.

"**Ice-Make: Ice Bringer!**", Gray howled, cutting her.

"**SKY DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!**", Wendy shouted.

"**Regulus Blast!**", Leo yells.

"**Virgo Kick!**", Virgo calls.

After all these attacks, the blue dragon falls to the ground, not able to attack anymore, but not unconscious either. Erza soon appeared, holding the red dragon upside down, followed by Levy.

"Thank you Virgo, Loke!", Lucy waved as her spirits disappeared.

"So, we've defeated them", Erza spoke, throwing the red dragon on the ground. "What should we do now?"

"I think taking their masks off would be a great idea", Lucy said. "I mean, why do they wear masks anyway?"

Levy rolled her eyes, smiling at the blonde. "You forgot they're assassins, Lu-chan. Keeping their face hidden is part of their job."

"N-No... Don't...", the red dragon tried to say, but was ignored.

Gajeel threw the blue dragon next to the red dragon, and Erza took their masks off.

Pure shock was written on their faces.

"Natsu? Juvia?! What the hell are you doing here?", Gray screeched.

Wendy quickly hurried to heal them with her magic, but stopped when Natsu and Juvia's wristbands sparked. Soon, Natsu and Juvia were screaming in pain.

"N-Natsu? What's happening?", Lucy asked, startled.

"Juvia!", Gray shouted.

"W-We... tried t-to... w-w-warn...", Juvia tried to say, but couldn't as she started screaming again.

They covered their ears. Wendy tried to heal them, but it was no use. The mages were still in terrible pain.

Soon, they fainted. Nobody knew what to do.

Suddenly, a sphere appeared out of nowhere.

"EVERYONE! HOLD YOUR BREATH!", Gajeel tried to scream, but it was too late.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! ^_^**

**I think the fight scene turned out pretty okay, didn't it?**

**Guest 1: I'm glad. ^w^**

**S.o.A.11.a.14.: [chanting] NaVia! NaVia!**

**Anime Lover: Ehr mah gerd you love me? [blush]**

**Guest 2: I just updated ^_^**

**Llae: NaVia's awesome, isn't it? ^w^**

**Guest 3: I try to update as fast as I can, I can't rush it and give you crappy chapters. ^_^**

**That's all, it seems.**

**Thank you all for reading! ^w^**


	8. Changed

**So...**

**Sorry everyone for the late update! It's just, NaVia week appeared and such...**

**I hope you all can forgive me.**

**Anyways, I posted a link on my profile with Natsu and Juvia's new design that appears this chapter that I drew. :D I recommend you to look at it so you can have an idea how they look now.**

**Now, o****n with the chapter!**

**Also, excuse the [more than in the last chapter] swearing once again...**

* * *

Levy hastily opened her eyes, feeling dizzy and drained. Looking around, she noticed that it was already night-time. Around her, everyone was lying unconscious, and some were just now waking up, just as her.

But the bad part was that Natsu and Juvia were nowhere to be found.

"Ughh... What the fuck happened?", Gajeel groaned, rubbing his head and looking around, feeling just as dizzy as her.

"Natsu and Juvia aren't here", Erza spoke, guilt lacing her voice as she slowly rose from the ground.

Gajeel looked around one more time, now remembering everything that happened, and let out a frustrated growl, startling the girls.

"They fucking escaped, didn't they?", he grumbled, mad at himself for inhaling the smoke.

"Calm down Gajeel, it may also be possible that someone took them away", Erza said, trying to ignore the aching of her body.

"**How** can I calm down? We can't do anything now! We fucking **lost** them, Titania!", he yelled at her, waking up the rest.

Erza looked down, sadly, blaming herself for all that happened. If only she wasn't so harsh all the time, if only she was more alert, more careful...

Wendy woke up, her head hurting, and averted her gaze towards Gajeel. She knew Natsu and Juvia were now lost, and they had no tracks to follow towards them. She mustered all her strength to rise from the ground and walk to her fellow dragon slayer, and hugged him, tears escaping her eyes, knowing she won't probably see Natsu and Juvia for some time.

Surprisingly, Gajeel hugged her back, petting her hair, whispering soothing words.

"Don't worry, we'll find them soon..."

Even though he hated to admit, he was hurt as well by the fact that they lost Natsu and Juvia. He was very aware they still had chances to find the two mages, but it would take some time...

Everyone, now fully awake and aware, were watching the scene, their hearts aching. Happy started crying loudly, and Lucy tried to calm him down. He buried his head into her chest and cried.

After some time, they finally got up and went back to the guild, a new determination shining in their eyes and lighting up their hearts.

_**They were going to find Natsu and Juvia and bring them back, no matter what it takes.**_

* * *

\- a few months later -

Erza was eating a strawberry cake, thinking of what they managed to accomplish while searching for Natsu and Juvia.

_'We've searched almost all the guilds known to have assassins, dark guilds and light guilds alike...'_, she thought. _'But none of them has any information about Natsu and Juvia, or know who may have took them away. We searched their guild halls, everything, but Natsu and Juvia are nowhere to be found.'_

She gritted her teeth. She felt so weak, so useless for not being able to find them just yet.

Erza tried focusing on the cake, guilt and sadness eating her heart.

Mirajane noticed the pain in the red-head's eyes, and sighed. The guild was so silent, so unlike what it was before Natsu and Juvia went on that job and never returned...

The silence in the guild was disturbed as the doors crashed down, and an all-too-familiar figure walked in the guild hall with a big smile.

"I'm back everyone!", the crash-mage shouted happily.

"Hello Gildarts", Mirajane spoke, accompanied by more monotone greetings.

Gildarts looked confused, seeing that Natsu didn't jump on him, wanting to fight as usual, and just now noticed the silence in the guild. He looked around, and turned his eyes to Mirajane.

"Where's Natsu? Is he on a job?", he asked, and noticed how everyone looked down at the mention of the salmon-haired dragon-slayer's name.

"I am afraid you are wrong, Gildarts", Makarov answered in the barmaid's place, and continued. "Both Natsu and another mage from our guild, Juvia, went on a job and never came back home."

His eyes widened, and he started shaking his head, everyone feeling his magic rising as he mumbled denials.

The one he considered a son, Natsu, disappeared without a trace? And along with another mage, too?

A soft hand on his shoulder stopped all his racing thoughts, and everyone sighed in relief as the magic pressure in the air disappeared. He turned around to see Cana, his daughter, look at him with sad eyes.

His heart ached as he saw the sadness and the unshed tears in his daughter's eyes. He could see that she drunk more than usual, something that upset him, and couldn't help but hug her, regretting the fact that he wasn't there when Natsu went away.

After some moments, Gildarts let go of Cana. Makarov took him to his office, along with Team Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel, and explained in detail what exactly happened. The crash mage then left the guild, upset at Natsu's friends, seeing them as the sole reason of the fire dragon slayer's departure.

The day after, when Gildarts returned to the guild, he saw Team Natsu, along with Levy, Gajeel, Wendy and the Exceeds preparing for a trip. Confused, he walked towards them.

"What are you doing?", he asked, watching as they all had backpacks, and, surprisingly, Erza didn't have tons of luggage.

"We're going on another trip to find information on Natsu and Juvia", Levy answered. "Since they disappeared, we're struggling to find them."

Gildarts raised an eyebrow. "Did you find anything yet?"

As expected, they all shook their heads. He sighed and went to Mirajane, asking for a drink.

"Gajeel, do you have everything?", Erza asked the iron dragon slayer quietly.

He nodded. "Yup, right in my backpack".

"Good. Then it's time to go".

They waved goodbye to the guild, and walked away. They were uncertain if this mission would be a success, but they will never give up.

Not until they found Natsu and Juvia.

* * *

Team Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Levy and the Exceeds were silently walking on the road leading to a different city. Wendy, since their comrades disappearance, became almost inseparable from Gajeel, who surprisingly accepted her constant presence around him. She also became considerably strong, striving to become just as good as her fellow dragon slayers.

Happy wasn't eating fish as much as he used to. He became glued to Lucy, something that wasn't too surprising, while Lucy and Gray progressed a lot in their relationship.

Erza, instead, isolated herself. She decided to wear her armor more than she used to, and was even more harsher. Lucy and Levy sometimes approached her, asking her is she was okay, but she was never honest with them. She blamed herself for everything: Natsu and Juvia's sadness, their disappearance, Wendy's tears... It was stupid, really, but she didn't care. She didn't want to blame anyone else other than herself for all the problems, but didn't realize that by closing herself, she was distancing herself from her friends, from her family, and was hurting herself.

Wendy started sniffing the air for a moment, catching a familiar scent. Her eyes widened, and she tugged at Gajeel's coat.

"G-Gajeel-san..."

Gajeel nodded in response.

"Yeah, I caught it too", he spoke quietly.

"Should we tell the others?", she asked cautiously.

"I think we should-"

Gajeel didn't get to finish his sentence as it suddenly started to rain hard. But the water that was falling on them was boiling hot...

"What the heck?!", Gray yelled. "**Ice Make: Shield!**"

The ice mage made a huge ice shield and put it above them all. The shield quickly melted, and the rain abruptly stopped. After a few moments of silence that seemed to take forever, the only sound being the mages' breathing, they were attacked by a wave of boiling water scythes.

"**Ice Make: Sword!**", Gray shouted and tried to block the water scythes.

When the attack ceased, Gray's ice sword was already melted.

"Who is there? Show yourselves!", Erza demanded.

Gajeel and Wendy caught the sound of whispers, but couldn't get what they were saying. Soon, two figures jumped from a tree nearby.

Everyone was shocked, gaping, tears gathering in their eyes as they recognized their figures.

Natsu and Juvia were standing right in front of them. The ones they searched for months were free, standing right in front of them.

They were both dressed in black, skin tight suits. Juvia's slender legs were exposed in their entire grace, while Natsu was wearing slightly tight trousers. Their normal eye color was tinted with red, and they had a strange bracelet on their left arms, and the places where their guild marks were placed were wrapped up with bandages.

Natsu had his bangs down and had an emotionless expression, gazing at Lucy, eyebrows furrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line, something very unusual for the destructive, happy dragon slayer.

Juvia wore her hair down, which was seemingly longer than usual, staring at Gray with a stern expression.

"Natsu, Juvia!", Erza shouted, deciding it was a good time to scold them. "What have you been doing all these months? Why haven't you returned to the guild, we were all **so worried**!"

"Erza, I don't think they are their usual selves...", Gray spoke lowly to the armored mage.

"Stop with this nonsense Gray", Erza retorted, not looking at him. "There's nothing wrong with them."

"E-Erza... I think you're wrong...", Lucy spoke shakily, frozen in spot as Natsu stared her down, watching her every move.

Before the armored mage could reply, Natsu raised an eyebrow and moved his gaze to her. Nobody noticed how the small light bulb on their bracelets shone for a split second, their eyes momentarily turning full red before returning to _'normal'_.

"Juvia, it seems our targets are familiar with us. Do you recall meeting with them before?", he asked Juvia, not moving his eyes from Erza, who flinched slightly, hearing him talking about them as strangers.

"Negative. Juvia has no memory of them", she replied, shaking her head.

Everyone's eyes widened. Happy burst into tears while the rest of the Exceeds were struggling to calm him down. Natsu quickly turned his eyes to Happy and let a devilish smirk make its way on his lips.

"Looks like we've got a weak one", he told Juvia and bolted towards Happy, igniting himself.

"**Sky Dragon's Roar!**", Wendy screamed, sending Natsu flying back.

He landed on the ground gently, on his feet. He glanced at Happy from behind her, and smirked as he saw a tear slip on Wendy's cheek.

"What the fuck is **wrong** with you Salamander?", Gajeel shouted, moving into a fighting stance in front of the Exceeds.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Me? There is nothing wrong with me", he spoke calmly.

"**Nothing?**", Gray spat back. "You attack your friend and it's **nothing**?"

Natsu and Juvia glanced at each other, an amused smile plastered on their faces.

"Attack?" Natsu chuckled.

"Our mission is to kill him", Juvia continued, a smirk on her lips as she walked next to Natsu. "All of you, actually".

Gray was ready to retort, but was interrupted by Wendy, who had her bangs covering her eyes.

"_**Kill?**_", she spoke slowly, a dark aura surrounding her.

Natsu raised his eyebrows, amused by the sight of the little girl standing up to him, and nodded.

"You won't kill **anybody** you fucking bastard!", she screamed. "**Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!**"

Natsu swiftly dodged, biting back a laugh at the girl.

Everyone else just stared at her dumbstruck, watching as she muttered swears, while Gajeel was smirking.

_'Gajeel sure rubbed off on Wendy since Natsu and Juvia disappeared...'_, everyone thought, before focusing again on their old friends.

"Oi, Juvia!", Natsu suddenly spoke.

"Yeah?", Juvia responded, perking her head up to look at him.

"Are you just going to sit by and watch me do the job, or are you going to help me over here?", he said with a teasing smirk, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I was just thinking I'll let you do the job, since you seem to be having so much fun", she spoke, sarcasm lacing her words.

As everyone watched the exchange curiously, Natsu walked near Juvia, and whispered something in her ear, so quietly that neither Gajeel or Wendy were able to understand what he was saying. A wicked smile spread on Juvia's lips.

"Of course", she whispered back, loud enough for the dragon slayers to hear.

Silence ensued, and the Fairy Tail mages waited patiently for their old friends to move. After a long staredown, Natsu lunged quick as lightning to Lucy, effectively kicking her in the stomach with a flaming knee. She fell on the ground, coughing up blood and shakily trying to get up.

"Juvia, now!", Natsu shouted as the others were distracted.

Juvia put her hands in front of her, a stream of boiling water bursting out of her palms. Gray tried to stop it with an ice shield, but it was quickly melted, and the water hit him, resulting in a few burns on his chest.

Erza shook with anger as two of her comrades were already injured. She looked at Lucy, who was shakily standing on her feet, panting, hands clutching her stomach and a small drop of blood decorating a corner of her mouth. Then, she glanced at Gray, who quickly put ice on his burns.

"**REQUIP****!****!**", she screamed, changing into her Flame Empress armor, and blindly attacked Natsu, who dodged every single one of her strikes, a smirk on his face.

Juvia bit back a chuckle as she watched Natsu do nothing to defend himself - or so the Fairy Tail mages thought.

Erza tried to hit Natsu, seeing red in front of her eyes. Seeing as he wasn't fazed at all by her sudden attack, or by her enraged expression, she starting attacking faster, annoyed. The others watched dumbstruck - excluding Juvia, obviously - as her attacks were quick as lightning, but he was quicker. They could barely see him as he moved aside from all of her attacks, never even close to getting hit.

The red-head let out a growl of frustration.

"Just **attack** for once!", she shouted at him.

He let a wild grin spread on his face, and her eyes widened as he moved at the speed of sound, hitting her with a flaming fist, targeting her neck.

Erza didn't have a split second to dodge or stop his attack, and flew into a nearby tree, her neck burned, hitting her head so hard she fell unconscious on the ground.

The Fairy Tail mages stood shocked and enraged, staring at Erza's limp body on the ground and then at Natsu and Juvia's smile. Natsu shrugged.

"Stop starin'. She wanted me to attack. I simply did as she wished", he spoke, not caring about the damage he just did to his former comrade.

They shook with anger, and the ones who were uninjured were prepared to retort something to Natsu.

But Happy beat them to it.

"_**NATSU**__**!**__**!**_", he screamed, tears falling free on his face as the others watched him with pity. "What are you doing? What happened to you?!"

Natsu lifted an eyebrow up, confused by the Exceed's actions. Happy shook with sadness and anger as he looked at Natsu's uncaring expressions.

"C-Come back to me... **D-Dad**...", he muttered through hiccups the one word he never called Natsu in his life.

Everyone stared at the poor Exceed with anger and shock, and all that they wanted to do was kick Natsu's ass for hurting his comrades, both physically and emotionally.

Gajeel looked over to Natsu's eyes and saw them flashing green for a moment, then noticed the bracelet spark red, changing his eye color again.

Natsu rolled his eyes and turned to Juvia.

"Tch. This one's annoying me, can you kill it for me?", he told her, ignoring the loud cry coming from Happy.

"Sure, but stop toying with them. We don't want boss to be angered that it took too long", Juvia scoffed and lunged at Happy, who stared blankly at her, his eyes dull, seizing every sob as he waited for Juvia to end his life, knowing he was unable to fight back or dodge.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.

But that impact never came.

The sound of her fist transformed into boiling water colliding with something other than himself made him open his eyes, which widened immediately.

Juvia's fist hit Carla's body, who jumped in front of him in an attempt to protect him. The fist collided with her stomach, to which she wheezed, blood escaping her mouth, and the time seemed to stop as her limp body crashed to the ground.

New tears fell from Happy's eyes as he screamed, crying on Carla's unconscious body.

"Looks like I didn't get him", Juvia told Natsu, uncaring towards his pained screams.

Natsu rolled his eyes.

"Did you at least kill her?", he asked.

She glanced at Carla's limp body, and shook her head.

"Nah, I don't think so. Seems she's stronger than the blue one", she said, to which everyone let out a deep sigh of relief. "But she's extremely injured, it would take a lot of treatment to bring her back, so we got her out of the fight".

Before Natsu could respond to her, a blue-haired, angry girl lunged at Juvia.

"**YOU FUCKING BITCH!****!**", Wendy screamed, trying to hit her.

Juvia spun and caught her fist, seemingly used to ambushes and such, and threw the startled dragon slayer on Lucy, who wheezed, falling to the ground, still very injured and obviously not better.

Gajeel noticed the same thing that happened to Natsu's bracelet happen to Juvia, her eyes turning ocean blue for a split second before shining red. Realization hit upon him.

"**Attack****!** Aim for the bracelets, they're manipulated!", he shouted, transforming his arm into an iron sword and lunging at Natsu.

The rest attacked as quick as they could, trying to hit the bracelets. Natsu and Juvia stared confused before fighting back.

After a few minutes of fighting, they were already losing. Gray and Lucy were down as their injuries got worse after they were hit again. Seeing the direction this fight was going, Gajeel took out some smoke bombs he managed to get from all of their searches in assassin guilds during these months.

"Everyone! Hold your breath!", he shouted and quickly threw them on the ground in front of Natsu and Juvia, who didn't have time to react.

The bombs broke, and the smoke quickly filled Natsu and Juvia's lungs. They collapsed on the ground, drained, while the Fairy Tail mages, still holding their breaths, took them and ran further in the forest, where they could breathe.

Something was wrong with Natsu and Juvia, who were clearly not remembering anyone in Fairy Tail.

And the truth about what happened was still too far from being known.

* * *

**Well.**

**I made the chapter a bit longer than I usually do, as an excuse for the time I took to update.**

_**I'll say it again, I drew Natsu and Juvia's new design from this chapter that is posted on my profile page! You should look at it, I may make more things like that if you appreciate it :D**_

**I'll try to update faster until school starts on September 14. Then, prepare for annoyingly slow updates because of homework. -.-**

**BUT, I will still be active daily on Tumblr and deviantArt if anyone is interested! My tumblr _[sakura-petal91]_ is where I'll be the most active, and my deviantArt_ [sakurapetal91]_ is where I will post drawings, colorings and such. If anyone will be interested in any other social media where I can be found, you can always PM me! [but I doubt anyone would do that, since, well, nobody gives a shit]**

**Now, on to replying to guests!**

**Guest 1: Aww, thanks for sending the link to my story to your best friends! I'm amazed, tbh, that my story is worth being send to people :D  
**

**Anime Lover: Aw, no need to cry honey! I'm doing good, really, and I had just updated! I just got busy with NaVia week and such... Even though I didn't finish it 'cause I got sick... I'll continue it though. It's not over :D**

**Guest 2: "When's the next one" you ask? Well.. how about NOW? :D**

**Guest 3: :D**

**Guest 4: I just love destroying you with cliffhangers, don't I? XD**

**Welp, that's it, it seems. Hope you liked the chapter [and hope you didn't forget about me already], and tell me what you thought about it. :D**


	9. Confusion

**Hello everybodyyyy! ^.^ I'm baaackk!**

***gets hit in the face***

**...Yeah. Sorry I couldn't update earlier, so many things have been happening in my life recently, and it has all taken its toll on me finally. Entered some kind of state of mini-depression, but the rest was good! :P I can't say I didn't have time to write, since I have those Hunter x Hunter oneshots posted on my profile, but for this story I didn't have enough ideas to finish the chapter early. Also, I had a small phase where I kinda drifted away from Fairy Tail and completely forgot about it, but I'm trying to get back in the FT mode again! :D**

**If my writing style has changed... blame a few FT fanfic writers lol. They influenced me for the better change!**

**Now, I'll ramble more in the A/N below the chapter and also answer to every Guest reviews I got! ^w^**

**Hope you like this new chapter! I'll try to update at least twice until Christmas.**

* * *

Natsu opened his eyes slowly, his vision blurry. Groaning, he tried to move, but couldn't. Glancing at his wrists, he noticed he was wrapped in three or four metal bars... It reminded him of a certain someone that he missed a lot.

Gaining consciousness, he blinked a few times, and realized he was in a small tent.

But before he could start to think properly about the events of yesterday, his eyes flashed red, something he was already too used with since a few months ago.

Unable to control his body anymore, he noticed Juvia unconscious near him and wanted to sigh. He wanted to cry once he heard the slight yelp at the entrance of the tent, the flap of a pair of angelic wings and a choked sob.

* * *

"I don't know who's manipulating them, Erza..." Levy sighed, looking down at her hands.

"But we know that they would never wish to hurt us if they were themselves now..." Lucy spoke, moving her palm above the soft grass.

They were interrupted by a wailing Happy. Erza ran quickly towards the Exceed, asking him what's wrong.

"N-Natsu's awake!" Happy hiccuped, flying over to Lucy.

Erza looked confused. "Then why are you crying?"

Happy didn't say anything for a minute, silently crying in Lucy's chest, who caressed his soft, blue fur with a frown and whispering soothing words.

"W-W-What if h-he **kills** me?"

Erza stood, frozen in her spot, eyes widened and mouth partly open.

She had never considered that.

Sure, Natsu and Juvia weren't themselves, but what if the one who controls them decides to try and kill Happy?

Some of them were still injured, for example Carla, who took an almost deadly blow that was supposed to end Happy's life. They wouldn't be able to fight properly, not only because of the injured, who would probably be the first targets, but also because they were holding back against Natsu and Juvia.

They couldn't hurt Natsu and Juvia. They just couldn't.

Erza was so sure success would come easy to them, but now she was starting to doubt she'll have the heart to injure them.

"Let's go, Levy." Erza commanded and turned her back, facing the small tent not too far away.

The two girls ran quickly towards the tent, and entered.

Their faces were washed with relief as they saw Natsu and Juvia still tied up and quiet, with Juvia still unconscious. Levy walked up to Juvia, but was met with a primal growl rumbling in Natsu's chest. Glancing up to him, she saw him staring at her with wide, scarlet, animalistic eyes devoid of emotion.

"Don't... touch her..." he growled loudly, his voice abnormally deep.

Levy flinched and quickly took three steps back. For a second, his eyes flashed to their normal smarald color, before returning to the strange red.

"Natsu! What is wrong with you?" Erza asked as calmly and as less awkward as she could've managed at the moment, crossing her arms over her chest.

The deep scarlet of the man's eyes toned down as he returned to a default expression.

"I was trying to fulfill a simple task provided by my master," he answered, voice devoid of emotion, staring intently at her as if trying to recognize where had he seen her before.

"Who is this... master of yours, Natsu?" Levy tried to ask, biting her lower lip.

"Why should I tell you?" he retorted, locking his piercing gaze with her. "I do not know you. Fairy Tail is only my target, I do not recall ever meeting you in the past. How do you know my name?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the left.

Erza stared him down, deciding to try and interrogate him some more.

"You and Juvia are our target as well," she spoke sternly, a cold drop of sweat trickling down her forehead as his aura became instantly bloodthirsty at the mention of the water mage. "...But we do not have the intent to kill. Only to return you to your former home, from which you were taken away without your consent."

Natsu chuckled at this, seemingly amused.

"Former home?" he said, immediately back to his default expression. "We do not have a home. We do not have the right to have one."

Levy put a hand on Erza's shoulder, a sad expression on her face as she whispered something to her. Erza avoided her gaze, but nodded nonetheless. She sighed, and turned around to leave.

"We shall leave you alone for now. Do as you wish, but don't try to escape," Erza said, glancing at Natsu and Juvia before leaving their tent.

"W-We'll get you some food and water as soon as possible!" Levy smiled as kindly as she could, waving goodbye, and ran after Erza. Natsu's bracelet shined deep red, and Natsu fell on the ground with a loud thump, unconscious.

Nobody heard him.

* * *

Further away from Natsu and Juvia's tent, a few hours later, the awake members of the team were debating their possible solutions for the issue.

"We should try to remove their bracelets!" Lucy debated, crossing her arms, huffing. "Obviously it's because of those bracelets that they're acting like this!"

"I say we should try and talk with them..." Levy suggested.

"RIP THEIR BRACELETS APART!" Erza roared, making everyone scurry away in fear.

Gajeel suddenly whipped his head around, sniffing, gaining everyone's attention.

"...Gajeel? Is something the matter?" Levy asked softly, putting a small hand on his arm.

"...Something happened. I hear Salamander and Rain Woman screaming," he simply said, and started running towards the tent.

Natsu and Juvia were both awake, screaming their heads off. The metal bars that were previously holding them were melted on the ground, some parts of their sticky burning composition clutching to their skin, clothes and hair. The bracelets were shining red, and tears were rolling down their cheeks, their voices already sore.

Gajeel and Erza rushed and tried to detach the bracelets as quickly as they could, their ears hurting from the loud sounds. Lucy and the rest were standing baffled at the entrance, unsure of what to do, panicking.

"I can't take it off!" Gajeel shouted to Erza.

"Try harder!"

Erza knew there was no way they could remove those bracelets without hurting them... but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. This was all making her feel weak, weak for not being able to protect her friends, and the guilt was rotting away at her heart now more than ever.

But it seems Gajeel wasn't in the same spot with her.

He screamed some swears and punched Natsu's arm so hard that he broke the bracelet in half. Unfortunately, Natsu was now also injured... and unconscious.

The bracelet beeped a few times before smoke started coming out of it. Gajeel quickly ran and threw it away, knowing it was going to explode. This seemed to trigger Juvia's bracelet, who went off in a similar manner.

A few seconds prior to her bracelet exploding, Juvia cracked an eye open, stopping from screaming, the pain gone from her bones. A tear fell as her eyes turned back to their normal, beautiful blue color. The light of the explosion blinded them all and the boom of it filled their ears, but it wasn't enough for them to not hear Juvia's last words...

"_**...Sorry...**_"

* * *

**Sooo... That was it! A bit short, but this is all I could muster for now. **

**Hope you liked it, I've got some ideas now :P The plot may thicken, and some parts may get harder to understand at some times, but I hope it's still good! If you have any questions, or suggestions for new chapters, feel free to drop a review or send me a PM! I'll be able to answer to them in the same day you sent them, don't worry :D**

**In case you're wondering, this story this start from scratch, but it does have its ending set in stone and I know where this is going. I am not making it all up as the chapters go, I have an idea what will happen. The problem is putting it all into words. :D**

**For Christmas, I'll have a surprise for you all! ^.^ Along with the chapter update, I'll also add something to lighten up your mood! Not related to the story though, but it will be some kind of NaVia omake AU...? Anyways, I'm hoping you'll like the idea -w-**

**Now, onto answering some reviews! ^.^**

_**Arnighte: **_**I'm glad you asked! :P Lisanna exists in the story, but she doesn't play a big role in it. I might add her later on in the story, but she'll only be a minor character and won't really affect Natsu and Juvia's or Lucy and Gray's relationships, and if it will, it will be in a positive way! I don't like making Lisanna the bad character, she's got too much hate, and I don't really like making good characters bad... -w-**

_**Roguecheneyrolu:**_** Ah, I am wondering if I should apololgize or nah -w-; There _will_ be NaVia fluffiness and cuteness, but you'll need to be patient for that, my friend. :D**

_**Guest 1: **_**Aww, thank you! ^.^ I'm glad to know you think this story is worth the effort! I'll try my best to update more often!**

_**Guest**_** 2: Yes... I will try :P**

_**Guest 3: **_**Ehr meh gerd, I'll try!**

_**RandomGuest:**_** I'm sorry to hear that. Yes, I know where this story is going. Welp! can't really do anything about it, tbh ^^; What's done is done. I can't delete the chapters so I'll make the changes more... gradual, it might confuse the readers and it might take me some time to explain to them what exactly have I done. Hope you aren't too upset with me!**

_**Guest 4:**_** Damn indeed :P Hope you like this chapter!**

_**AnimeLover:**_** First of all, I wanna thank you for being such a loyal reader. Like, I remember almost every review I got from you lol -w- Don't worry dear, Natsu and juvia aren't permanently evil and they aren't really the ones in control of their actions, if this hasn't been made clear! ^^ Hope you like this new chapter!**

_**Rosa:**_** I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I hope you had a good time until now! Hope you'll find a much better story, or even write your own! That would be great :P Thanks for reading so far! You might not read this since you're no longer following the story, but still, might as well answer it lol.**

**Welp, that's it!**

**Hope you liked the chapter again, and stay tuned! What's worse is yet to come, but it won't come too abruptly. There will be some fluffiness soon!**


	10. ANNOUNCEMENT

**Hi everyone!**

**I am terribly sorry that this... is not an update. ;-;**

**I strayed far away from Fairy Tail (mainly because of its fandom...) and writing anything for it just seems... a bit impossible to me now.**

**I'm really sorry, I hope you won't be too upset!**

**This story has been adopted by _Dark Gothic Lolita_, a fellow NaVia writer (and probably a lot better than me!). I'm certain she'll do this justice and probably change it for the better.**

**All my Fairy Tail multi-chapter fics are discontinued, and I'll just be sticking to oneshots for every fandom I will ever get in later so this won't happen again.**

**I hope you have a nice day!**

**\- _SakuraPetal91_**


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